From IT analyst to vegan ice cream entrepreneur—my twenty-year journey as a vegan has culminated in the creation of Houston's most unique frozen treat experience. When my favorite vegan ice cream shop in Austin closed its doors, I didn't just lament the loss of great desserts; I recognized an opportunity to fill a void in the market while staying true to my values.
Drawing on analytical skills honed through years in information technology, I approached building my business with methodical precision. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the enormity of entrepreneurship, I broke the process down into small, achievable goals—a technique borrowed from agile project management. This step-by-step approach allowed me to transform a vision board dream into a tangible business serving thousands of customers.
What makes our venture special is both the product and the philosophy behind it. We've created what may be the first ice cream truck that actually makes the ice cream on-site, offering fresh, 100% vegan frozen treats that never compromise on taste or ethics. Operating as a solo entrepreneur has its challenges, but it's allowed me to maintain complete control over quality and values. The business represents a perfect alignment of personal passion with professional ambition—proof that ethical entrepreneurship can thrive when approached with patience, planning, and purpose. Join me on this journey as I document the growth of this vegan ice cream concept from local favorite to what I hope will become a worldwide brand.
Have you visited us in Katy yet? If not, stop by or tell a friend about Houston's freshest vegan ice cream experience. Your support helps spread plant-based goodness one scoop at a time!
âś… Support my work on Venmo , Yappy or PayPal
âś… Check out my Linktr.ee
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up guys?
Hey guys, so I wanted to sharewith you guys that in the past,
what past year and a half, I'vebeen working on my business and
I actually decided to share alittle bit with you guys, to
(00:22):
kind of go over and share withyou guys of what has Rodgers
been doing the past year and ahalf that we don't really hear
much from here on this blog andfor the Latino Vegano.
So I'm going to use LatinoVegano now to kind of share with
you guys some of the inside ofthe business what I do.
So actually I'm literallyinside the business.
So I wanted to use that spaceso I can share with you guys a
little bit of what has beengoing on.
(00:43):
I wanted to use that space so Ican share with you guys a
little bit of what is this I'vebeen going on how's the business
going, everything how I startedit.
I think it would be great if Istart from the beginning, how
the project started, because I'mgetting a lot of questions
based on that and then fromthere I can set way into, like,
show you guys how the businessis.
But let me go ahead and do thatfirst.
(01:04):
Let me go ahead and share withyou guys some of the inside of
the business, and then we can goahead and talk about more of
like, some of the aspects, andyou guys can ask me questions as
I go forward with it.
So I'm going to start sharingthat with you guys.
Let me know what you guys think.
If you have any specificquestions for me, let's go ahead
(01:27):
and do that.
Okay, all right?
All right, guys.
So that was our intro, right.
And then, next thing, I want totalk to you guys about the last
couple of years, how it's been.
So, basically, about a year anda half, I embarked on this idea
(01:47):
and this project of opening myown business right, and I always
knew that it was going to besomething related to vegan.
As you guys know, I've beenvegan for more than 20 plus
years.
I actually trained vegan in2002.
And I moved to the Us in 2005and um, so I started being vegan
(02:14):
when I was living in panama andthen when I came to the us, you
know, veganism kind of took offfor me, because I was able to
see a variety of products andfood and whatnot and see the
lifestyle from a differentperspective.
Not only that, but I was alsoable to meet a lot more vegans
and whatnot.
But anyway, so that's a littlebit of what that story you guys
know.
There's a lot of informationabout my journey from a vegan
(02:36):
perspective in previous episodesof my podcast that I highly
suggest you guys to check.
That I highly suggest you guysto check.
But what I want to talk aboutis basically this whole journey.
The past year and a half Iembarked in this business and,
(03:00):
for so many of you know, I havea background in IT.
So that's my background.
So I have my background in ITallows me to work in different
sections of what we call IT.
But I'm sure you're asking whatIT has to do with.
We're basically a business andnot only that.
(03:30):
But what I had to do is thatwhen I work in IT, it allows me
to work in different types ofroles.
So I work from basic roles tomanagement roles, senior roles
and a role specifically calledanalyst, right?
So when you become an analyst,well, basically what you do is
you look at processes and thenyou see how can you improve them
.
So now having managementprocess and data and system
(03:55):
allows you to kind of utilizethose skill set to anything that
you do in life, including yourpersonal life to some extent,
including your personal life tosome extent.
So I'll tell you all this, guys,because I've been wanting to
open a food truck for many years.
I don't know if I ever sharedwith you guys an experience that
(04:15):
I had where somebody reachedout to me.
It was in the vegan communityand then this specific person
wanted to open a food truck andthey reached out to me.
So we can partner up and we cancombine efforts so we can go
ahead and promote and open upthis business.
(04:37):
And to me it was a veryfascinating idea because at that
specific point in my life Ireally wanted to focus on what
was my next business venture.
I already incursionated ine-commerce and I was also doing
real estate and I wanted to alsodo something else besides that
(04:59):
and I wanted to have some kindof physical, tangible product
and I knew it was have to besomething related to vegan and
specifically with the food,because my recipes in my
culinary expertise were kind ofbecoming even greater and
greater and greater with time.
So, with that said, this ideato me was like great.
It was like amazing.
I get to work on the businessside, which I have, all the
(05:21):
skillset that I alreadymentioned from the IT
perspective, and then now I cancombine those with somebody that
has experience by cooking andbeing a chef previously and all
that.
So I said this is going to bean amazing partnership.
So long story, short guys.
The deal never completed.
So we all now being able tofinalize that.
(05:42):
I was a bit disappointedbecause I was really looking
forward to that next thing.
So I put myself a goal that I,at some point, I'm going to open
my own business.
I'm going to open my own foodtruck if, if I share with you
guys my vision board back in2021 uh, around the pandemic, I
(06:04):
put up a vision board and in thevision board I have a picture
of a food truck and I includedit in the picture that is going
to be my own business.
Is that in last year in 2024, Idecided to.
(06:27):
I was going to open my ownbusiness right, my own food
truck.
And the decision came from along journey, experience working
(06:52):
to different avenues to try toopen this, the business that I
have in in mind and which Ialready explained in several
episodes of my podcast.
And then um.
But at the end of the day, um,the decision came, I decided to
open an ice cream truck right,which is gonna probably be the
first time that you're gonna toactually have an ice cream truck
which is actually making theice cream in the same truck.
(07:12):
So, as you guys see, I'mactually inside the trailer or
inside the truck.
It's actually a food trailer,not a truck.
He's going to be very politicalabout it, but anyway, I know
the term food truck is morepopular, more familiar with than
food trailer, but anyway.
So the decision came that way.
(07:34):
So my inspiration was I alreadyhad this vision from previous
years.
So this whole venture happened,this whole idea of concert
initially happened.
I want to say that was 2015,.
2014,.
That I was going back and forthwith this person about opening
(07:56):
this business.
So it took us about I don'tknow 6-7 years for me to kind of
like finalize the detail andanyway the whole concert started
.
Seven years for me to kind oflike finalize the detail and
anyway the whole concert started.
I wanted to open an ice creamstore.
It was initially going to be meselling popsicles and I started
(08:17):
it because I was actuallyprepping for a show because most
of you know that I'm aprofessional bodybuilder and I
was prepping for a show and Iwanted to get some kind of treat
, plus my partner at the time,which now is my wife, she is
lactal intolerance.
So I was trying to find a waythat I can manage to have treats
(08:41):
, that we can have healthiertreats, for example,
specifically in that same lineof ice cream and popsicles and
stuff like that that I can haveto be able to manage any between
my dietary choices or myspecific diet for the
competition at that time choicesor my diet or my or my specific
(09:02):
diet for the competition atthat time.
So that's kind of like how themain concert started it.
And the second thing thattriggered that was my February
ice cream.
Um, ice cream place in Austinwhich is called Sweet Rital,
close.
So I did a trip to Austin and Inoticed that the place closed.
So I was so disappointedbecause it brought me so many
memories, especially a memorywhere I went with Robert Sheik.
(09:23):
I mentioned Robert in thisbecause he was the one that
first introduced me to thisplace in Austin.
So that's how the first time Imet this place was through
Robert.
And with that said, I realizedthat the place closed.
So I reached out to the ownersand they say, well, we close the
business Now we are doingconsulting and all these
(09:44):
different things, right, great,so the consulting part.
And then also I realized that,okay, well, there might be an
opportunity here, because I hadthis many messages or many
scenarios that are saying heymessages or many scenarios that
are saying, hey, if you, youneed to, you need to focus on
(10:05):
this, there's something here.
Right, there's an opportunityhere.
So that's what I decided to do.
So I said you know what?
I'm going to open my ownbusiness.
I'm going to open an ice creamtruck and I'm going to set it up
here in the Houston area,houston surrounding area and
we're going to expand and growthis thing to be a worldwide
thing.
Right, and this is our goal tobe a worldwide thing.
And that's pretty much how Istarted it.
(10:27):
So I started putting thebusiness plan, I put everything
together, but the differencethis time is I was taking action
.
I will generate the concept,the idea I was designing.
So the way I do it and we cantalk about this in another
episode is that I will probablyexplain to you guys all the
step-by-step things that I didfor people out there that are
(10:49):
more interested in opening theirown business, because you can
apply for anything some of thethings that I did.
But just to give you ahigh-level idea, I started
working.
I set up small, small,achievable goals.
So that's something that I gotfrom the IT perspective right, I
was working more of an agile.
(11:09):
What does it mean?
Agile is that, instead oftaking the entire project and
try to complete it at once, youmake small pieces, small pieces
of the project, and theneverything that you complete in
a period of time keeps youcloser to your end goal.
So that's my approach.
So, let's say, I'm going to giveyou a preferred example.
Let's say you want to open ane-commerce store right, you want
(11:32):
to open a store online.
And then what you need to docome up with a name.
You want to create a logo.
You want to create.
Come up with a name.
You want to create a logo.
You want to create a website.
Then you got to get the product.
You got to reach out todistributor.
So, even if you don't haveenough money to begin with,
start making the things that youcan do.
Even if you don't have theresources or the financial
(11:53):
resources to, let's say, buy thedomain or buy the products, you
can start doing small things.
Like, for example, if you putyourself a goal to okay, I'm
going to read or talk to 10people that owns online stores,
that's a goal you can go aheadand do that and you don't
require any financial monetary,for example to be able to
(12:17):
accomplish that.
You go ahead and call thosesame folks, you conversate with
them, talk to them and get someideas, take some notes, for
example, to be able toaccomplish that.
You go ahead and call thosesame folks, you conversate with
them, talk to them and get someideas, take some notes and then,
once you complete that, thenyou move to the next step.
Okay, now I'm going to thinkabout how to brainstorm ideas
for names and then you startcreating small achievable.
Achievable is the key goals thatcan put you closest to your end
(12:37):
goal and by the time yourealize you that can put you
closest to your angle, and bythe time you realize you have
that project completed becauseyou start making those small
steps little by little.
So now I took the same approach.
Okay, well, now let me come upwith a name.
Let's go ahead and think aboutnames.
Let's go online.
Let's go online, maybe use chat, gpt, so you can come up with
some names.
Now, let me come up with a logo.
(12:59):
Okay, now I'm going to create alogo.
Okay, what logo I use with this, so on and so forth.
Decide All these differentthings that you start doing.
So that was my main thing Justtry to create small, achievable
goals to get me closer.
Once all that was completed andI have enough to get the
project going, then you go aheadand get the project going.
(13:19):
I mean, it is launching yourwebsite, even opening the store,
even getting the funds, allthose different things, and
those things are going to happenfor you.
So that's what I did I putmyself in the model of
achievable goals and then Istarted doing it one by one and
then to reach to a point that,okay, I was ready, I found a
supplier, so I can start, so Ican start building the vehicle,
(13:43):
the trailer, customize it andthey go from there.
The rest is history.
So that's how, in a high level,everything started for me, guys,
and it was one of thoseexperiences, right, that I
literally want to tell you guysthat it was a fun process and it
(14:04):
was an amazing process, andthere's things that I can
improve or do better, whichdefinitely I know that I can't
and it was not a perfect path,right, but it was a great path
and it's a supporting path.
But it was a great path andit's an important path.
Being able to know and defineand go through that process
(14:29):
allows you to be successful inevery way.
So I was able to see the thingsthat I can improve now thinking
, okay, well, I can do thisbetter, I would have done this
better, and I can talk aboutthat too in other episodes.
But I wanted to use this time,or this episode, just to talk to
you guys about that,specifically how, how I started
(14:52):
it, how everything was built forus to be able to have that
business, how was the process,the concept, the way it came
about, and then from there.
So, once I decided I was goingto open the business, I find a
(15:13):
location and we start operation.
So that's a completelydifferent episode, right,
because now we need to talkabout how that happened, how
that came out with the recipes.
That's also another aspect.
But what I wanted to share withyou guys initially was that
idea was happening.
I already planned it from yearsago to have this concept
(15:36):
happening.
I put it to work, the time wasdown and I decided to open.
I launched this business solo,with no business partner.
I'm not saying that that'salways the right way.
There's no wrong or right way.
You might have an idea that youmight want to launch with a
friend or with a businesspartner.
The one thing that I saythere's a lot of benefits.
There's pros and cons, bothways right.
(15:58):
So there's benefit of launchinga business with a partner
because you guys put ideastogether, put resources together
.
Maybe you guys complement eachother.
I think it's a greatrelationship that you can build
and then you can build abusiness that way and then you
share the wealth.
It's excellent.
Now, when you go solo, whenyou're a solo entrepreneur by
(16:19):
yourself and there's no businesspartner, you're pretty much
doing everything right.
You're more controlled.
You have more control of thebusiness.
You make the decisions.
Everything relies on you.
You succeed or you fail, it'sall on you.
But at the end of the day, aperson that works solo knows
that he or she requires a teamto be able to grow that business
10 times to another level.
(16:41):
So you have to be able to knowthat as well.
So you have to become more of aleader at that point.
So that's one of the things thatI will share with you guys when
it comes down to it.
So I'll be making small, I'mmaking videos, that I'll be
talking about different aspectsof the business and how
everything's play out.
I'll try to make a continuationand try to share different
(17:03):
things, but what I want to beable to reach out to you guys is
that I'm going to start usingthis to be able to document,
talk to you guys everything thatis going on as far as the
business, all the inside, uh,all the other context, some of
many stuff that I've beennoticing.
So these are things you canlearn.
This is the stage of a lifethat I am now, and it's a great
(17:25):
way to share that experience,share a lot of things with you
guys and use a platform that Ialways use guys to share my
personal stories my personallife from a vegan perspective
Now.
My personal life from a veganperspective Now, flipping now
from a vegan but now from anentrepreneur's perspective now,
which is seeing this from adifferent perspective now for a
(17:45):
different level.
The great thing is that I nevercompromise my moral.
So, even though we're doingbusiness, my business is 100%
vegan.
Vegan is from the owner all theway to every single product,
which is even greater Becausenow I get the opportunity to not
only take my lifestyle from mypersonal standpoint but also
(18:09):
into the business world, rightwhen you are out there
representing the movement,representing the lifestyle,
representing everything that youall believe for right and do it
in the right way.
So for me, that's always beenthe main thing, and I'm very
grateful for the community.
I'm very grateful for everybodythat supported the business.
(18:29):
We have served thousands ofpeople to this day and we've
served millions more people andwe're grateful for it.
With this video and this message, if you're local and you know
me, I'm not necessarily tryingto just create content so I can
(18:49):
have you guys come to thebusiness.
What I want to do is, if youknow anyone that will definitely
benefit from our products, letthem know.
Let them know that we have abusiness out there.
That's probably the best waythat we can, um, that we can get
out there also wear them out,which is great.
Let's go viral.
And then they know people that,hey, there's a business right
there in Katy, right now inHouston, that is, uh, having
(19:14):
amazing products, uh, and notonly that, but it comes from a
great place too as well.
So, all right guys, all right,I'll keep you guys posted.
I'll do another video.
We'll talk a little bit moreabout some of the aspects of the
business.
I'll probably give you guys ashow around later and explain to
you guys some of the stuff thatwe got going on how the
(19:35):
business got situated.
I think now you have now know,or have an idea, where the
business concept came from,which is going to be my main
topic here, where the businessconcept came from and why I
decided to open this specifictype of business.
The business concept, like Imentioned, came from a long time
day that I knew I was going tobe a food truck, but the part of
(19:57):
making the ice cream that Iknew I was going to be a food
truck, but the food, the part ofmaking the ice cream truck, was
because I was my favorite placeclosed and then I decided to
say you know what?
I'm going to open my own icecream shop.
I'm really passionate aboutmaking ice cream and making
products, being creative andcome up with all these different
recipes and I, knowing the food, I could do it.
And and I, knowing the food, Icould do it.
(20:17):
And I knew in the dessert sideI could do it.
There was a need, there is aneed for the kind of product
that we offer, and then Idecided to say you know what,
I'm going to be the one that'sgoing to help provide that
supply, that need, to the demandthat we have currently.
So we just need everybody'ssupport to be able to reach out
to more people.
(20:38):
And that's what happened.
The idea is there and now wejust try to make the business
even greater, to create betterquality product, better quality
items and reach out to morepeople, longer and longer.
So that was part of the firstepisode and I'll go ahead and
(20:58):
document more information foryou guys in previous episodes.
So stay tuned and see you guysin the next episode.
All right, bye-bye.
What's up guys?
Hey guys, so I wanted to sharewith you guys that in the past,
what past year and a half, I'vebeen working on my business and
I actually decided to share alittle bit with you guys, to
(00:22):
kind of go over and share withyou guys of what has Rodgers
been doing the past year and ahalf that we don't really hear
much from here on this blog andfor the Latino Vegano.
So I'm going to use LatinoVegano now to kind of share with
you guys some of the inside ofthe business what I do.
So actually I'm literallyinside the business.
So I wanted to use that spaceso I can share with you guys a
little bit of what has beengoing on.
(00:43):
I wanted to use that space so Ican share with you guys a
little bit of what is this I'vebeen going on how's the business
going, everything how I startedit.
I think it would be great if Istart from the beginning, how
the project started, because I'mgetting a lot of questions
based on that and then fromthere I can set way into, like,
show you guys how the businessis.
But let me go ahead and do thatfirst.
(01:04):
Let me go ahead and share withyou guys some of the inside of
the business, and then we can goahead and talk about more of
like, some of the aspects, andyou guys can ask me questions as
I go forward with it.
So I'm going to start sharingthat with you guys.
Let me know what you guys think.
If you have any specificquestions for me, let's go ahead
(01:27):
and do that.
Okay, all right?
All right, guys.
So that was our intro, right.
And then, next thing, I want totalk to you guys about the last
couple of years, how it's been.
So, basically, about a year anda half, I embarked on this idea
(01:47):
and this project of opening myown business right, and I always
knew that it was going to besomething related to vegan.
As you guys know, I've beenvegan for more than 20 plus
years.
I actually trained vegan in2002.
And I moved to the Us in 2005and um, so I started being vegan
(02:14):
when I was living in panama andthen when I came to the us, you
know, veganism kind of took offfor me, because I was able to
see a variety of products andfood and whatnot and see the
lifestyle from a differentperspective.
Not only that, but I was alsoable to meet a lot more vegans
and whatnot.
But anyway, so that's a littlebit of what that story you guys
know.
There's a lot of informationabout my journey from a vegan
(02:36):
perspective in previous episodesof my podcast that I highly
suggest you guys to check.
That I highly suggest you guysto check.
But what I want to talk aboutis basically this whole journey.
The past year and a half Iembarked in this business and,
(03:00):
for so many of you know, I havea background in IT.
So that's my background.
So I have my background in ITallows me to work in different
sections of what we call IT.
But I'm sure you're asking whatIT has to do with.
We're basically a business andnot only that.
(03:30):
But what I had to do is thatwhen I work in IT, it allows me
to work in different types ofroles.
So I work from basic roles tomanagement roles, senior roles
and a role specifically calledanalyst, right?
So when you become an analyst,well, basically what you do is
you look at processes and thenyou see how can you improve them
.
So now having managementprocess and data and system
(03:55):
allows you to kind of utilizethose skill set to anything that
you do in life, including yourpersonal life to some extent,
including your personal life tosome extent.
So I'll tell you all this, guys,because I've been wanting to
open a food truck for many years.
I don't know if I ever sharedwith you guys an experience that
(04:15):
I had where somebody reachedout to me.
It was in the vegan communityand then this specific person
wanted to open a food truck andthey reached out to me.
So we can partner up and we cancombine efforts so we can go
ahead and promote and open upthis business.
(04:37):
And to me it was a veryfascinating idea because at that
specific point in my life Ireally wanted to focus on what
was my next business venture.
I already incursionated ine-commerce and I was also doing
real estate and I wanted to alsodo something else besides that
(04:59):
and I wanted to have some kindof physical, tangible product
and I knew it was have to besomething related to vegan and
specifically with the food,because my recipes in my
culinary expertise were kind ofbecoming even greater and
greater and greater with time.
So, with that said, this ideato me was like great.
It was like amazing.
I get to work on the businessside, which I have, all the
(05:21):
skillset that I alreadymentioned from the IT
perspective, and then now I cancombine those with somebody that
has experience by cooking andbeing a chef previously and all
that.
So I said this is going to bean amazing partnership.
So long story, short guys.
The deal never completed.
So we all now being able tofinalize that.
(05:42):
I was a bit disappointedbecause I was really looking
forward to that next thing.
So I put myself a goal that I,at some point, I'm going to open
my own business.
I'm going to open my own foodtruck if, if I share with you
guys my vision board back in2021 uh, around the pandemic, I
(06:04):
put up a vision board and in thevision board I have a picture
of a food truck and I includedit in the picture that is going
to be my own business.
Is that in last year in 2024, Idecided to.
(06:27):
I was going to open my ownbusiness right, my own food
truck.
And the decision came from along journey, experience working
(06:52):
to different avenues to try toopen this, the business that I
have in in mind and which Ialready explained in several
episodes of my podcast.
And then um.
But at the end of the day, um,the decision came, I decided to
open an ice cream truck right,which is gonna probably be the
first time that you're gonna toactually have an ice cream truck
which is actually making theice cream in the same truck.
(07:12):
So, as you guys see, I'mactually inside the trailer or
inside the truck.
It's actually a food trailer,not a truck.
He's going to be very politicalabout it, but anyway, I know
the term food truck is morepopular, more familiar with than
food trailer, but anyway.
So the decision came that way.
(07:34):
So my inspiration was I alreadyhad this vision from previous
years.
So this whole venture happened,this whole idea of concert
initially happened.
I want to say that was 2015,.
2014,.
That I was going back and forthwith this person about opening
(07:56):
this business.
So it took us about I don'tknow 6-7 years for me to kind of
like finalize the detail andanyway the whole concert started
.
Seven years for me to kind oflike finalize the detail and
anyway the whole concert started.
I wanted to open an ice creamstore.
It was initially going to be meselling popsicles and I started
(08:17):
it because I was actuallyprepping for a show because most
of you know that I'm aprofessional bodybuilder and I
was prepping for a show and Iwanted to get some kind of treat
, plus my partner at the time,which now is my wife, she is
lactal intolerance.
So I was trying to find a waythat I can manage to have treats
(08:41):
, that we can have healthiertreats, for example,
specifically in that same lineof ice cream and popsicles and
stuff like that that I can haveto be able to manage any between
my dietary choices or myspecific diet for the
competition at that time choicesor my diet or my or my specific
(09:02):
diet for the competition atthat time.
So that's kind of like how themain concert started it.
And the second thing thattriggered that was my February
ice cream.
Um, ice cream place in Austinwhich is called Sweet Rital,
close.
So I did a trip to Austin and Inoticed that the place closed.
So I was so disappointedbecause it brought me so many
memories, especially a memorywhere I went with Robert Sheik.
(09:23):
I mentioned Robert in thisbecause he was the one that
first introduced me to thisplace in Austin.
So that's how the first time Imet this place was through
Robert.
And with that said, I realizedthat the place closed.
So I reached out to the ownersand they say, well, we close the
business Now we are doingconsulting and all these
(09:44):
different things, right, great,so the consulting part.
And then also I realized that,okay, well, there might be an
opportunity here, because I hadthis many messages or many
scenarios that are saying heymessages or many scenarios that
are saying, hey, if you, youneed to, you need to focus on
(10:05):
this, there's something here.
Right, there's an opportunityhere.
So that's what I decided to do.
So I said you know what?
I'm going to open my ownbusiness.
I'm going to open an ice creamtruck and I'm going to set it up
here in the Houston area,houston surrounding area and
we're going to expand and growthis thing to be a worldwide
thing.
Right, and this is our goal tobe a worldwide thing.
And that's pretty much how Istarted it.
(10:27):
So I started putting thebusiness plan, I put everything
together, but the differencethis time is I was taking action
.
I will generate the concept,the idea I was designing.
So the way I do it and we cantalk about this in another
episode is that I will probablyexplain to you guys all the
step-by-step things that I didfor people out there that are
(10:49):
more interested in opening theirown business, because you can
apply for anything some of thethings that I did.
But just to give you ahigh-level idea, I started
working.
I set up small, small,achievable goals.
So that's something that I gotfrom the IT perspective right, I
was working more of an agile.
(11:09):
What does it mean?
Agile is that, instead oftaking the entire project and
try to complete it at once, youmake small pieces, small pieces
of the project, and theneverything that you complete in
a period of time keeps youcloser to your end goal.
So that's my approach.
So, let's say, I'm going to giveyou a preferred example.
Let's say you want to open ane-commerce store right, you want
(11:32):
to open a store online.
And then what you need to docome up with a name.
You want to create a logo.
You want to create.
Come up with a name.
You want to create a logo.
You want to create a website.
Then you got to get the product.
You got to reach out todistributor.
So, even if you don't haveenough money to begin with,
start making the things that youcan do.
Even if you don't have theresources or the financial
(11:53):
resources to, let's say, buy thedomain or buy the products, you
can start doing small things.
Like, for example, if you putyourself a goal to okay, I'm
going to read or talk to 10people that owns online stores,
that's a goal you can go aheadand do that and you don't
require any financial monetary,for example to be able to
(12:17):
accomplish that.
You go ahead and call thosesame folks, you conversate with
them, talk to them and get someideas, take some notes, for
example, to be able toaccomplish that.
You go ahead and call thosesame folks, you conversate with
them, talk to them and get someideas, take some notes and then,
once you complete that, thenyou move to the next step.
Okay, now I'm going to thinkabout how to brainstorm ideas
for names and then you startcreating small achievable.
Achievable is the key goals thatcan put you closest to your end
(12:37):
goal and by the time yourealize you that can put you
closest to your angle, and bythe time you realize you have
that project completed becauseyou start making those small
steps little by little.
So now I took the same approach.
Okay, well, now let me come upwith a name.
Let's go ahead and think aboutnames.
Let's go online.
Let's go online, maybe use chat, gpt, so you can come up with
some names.
Now, let me come up with a logo.
(12:59):
Okay, now I'm going to create alogo.
Okay, what logo I use with this, so on and so forth.
Decide All these differentthings that you start doing.
So that was my main thing Justtry to create small, achievable
goals to get me closer.
Once all that was completed andI have enough to get the
project going, then you go aheadand get the project going.
(13:19):
I mean, it is launching yourwebsite, even opening the store,
even getting the funds, allthose different things, and
those things are going to happenfor you.
So that's what I did I putmyself in the model of
achievable goals and then Istarted doing it one by one and
then to reach to a point that,okay, I was ready, I found a
supplier, so I can start, so Ican start building the vehicle,
(13:43):
the trailer, customize it andthey go from there.
The rest is history.
So that's how, in a high level,everything started for me, guys,
and it was one of thoseexperiences, right, that I
literally want to tell you guysthat it was a fun process and it
(14:04):
was an amazing process, andthere's things that I can
improve or do better, whichdefinitely I know that I can't
and it was not a perfect path,right, but it was a great path
and it's a supporting path.
But it was a great path andit's an important path.
Being able to know and defineand go through that process
(14:29):
allows you to be successful inevery way.
So I was able to see the thingsthat I can improve now thinking
, okay, well, I can do thisbetter, I would have done this
better, and I can talk aboutthat too in other episodes.
But I wanted to use this time,or this episode, just to talk to
you guys about that,specifically how, how I started
(14:52):
it, how everything was built forus to be able to have that
business, how was the process,the concept, the way it came
about, and then from there.
So, once I decided I was goingto open the business, I find a
(15:13):
location and we start operation.
So that's a completelydifferent episode, right,
because now we need to talkabout how that happened, how
that came out with the recipes.
That's also another aspect.
But what I wanted to share withyou guys initially was that
idea was happening.
I already planned it from yearsago to have this concept
(15:36):
happening.
I put it to work, the time wasdown and I decided to open.
I launched this business solo,with no business partner.
I'm not saying that that'salways the right way.
There's no wrong or right way.
You might have an idea that youmight want to launch with a
friend or with a businesspartner.
The one thing that I saythere's a lot of benefits.
There's pros and cons, bothways right.
(15:58):
So there's benefit of launchinga business with a partner
because you guys put ideastogether, put resources together
.
Maybe you guys complement eachother.
I think it's a greatrelationship that you can build
and then you can build abusiness that way and then you
share the wealth.
It's excellent.
Now, when you go solo, whenyou're a solo entrepreneur by
(16:19):
yourself and there's no businesspartner, you're pretty much
doing everything right.
You're more controlled.
You have more control of thebusiness.
You make the decisions.
Everything relies on you.
You succeed or you fail, it'sall on you.
But at the end of the day, aperson that works solo knows
that he or she requires a teamto be able to grow that business
10 times to another level.
(16:41):
So you have to be able to knowthat as well.
So you have to become more of aleader at that point.
So that's one of the things thatI will share with you guys when
it comes down to it.
So I'll be making small, I'mmaking videos, that I'll be
talking about different aspectsof the business and how
everything's play out.
I'll try to make a continuationand try to share different
(17:03):
things, but what I want to beable to reach out to you guys is
that I'm going to start usingthis to be able to document,
talk to you guys everything thatis going on as far as the
business, all the inside, uh,all the other context, some of
many stuff that I've beennoticing.
So these are things you canlearn.
This is the stage of a lifethat I am now, and it's a great
(17:25):
way to share that experience,share a lot of things with you
guys and use a platform that Ialways use guys to share my
personal stories my personallife from a vegan perspective
Now.
My personal life from a veganperspective Now, flipping now
from a vegan but now from anentrepreneur's perspective now,
which is seeing this from adifferent perspective now for a
(17:45):
different level.
The great thing is that I nevercompromise my moral.
So, even though we're doingbusiness, my business is 100%
vegan.
Vegan is from the owner all theway to every single product,
which is even greater Becausenow I get the opportunity to not
only take my lifestyle from mypersonal standpoint but also
(18:09):
into the business world, rightwhen you are out there
representing the movement,representing the lifestyle,
representing everything that youall believe for right and do it
in the right way.
So for me, that's always beenthe main thing, and I'm very
grateful for the community.
I'm very grateful for everybodythat supported the business.
(18:29):
We have served thousands ofpeople to this day and we've
served millions more people andwe're grateful for it.
With this video and this message, if you're local and you know
me, I'm not necessarily tryingto just create content so I can
(18:49):
have you guys come to thebusiness.
What I want to do is, if youknow anyone that will definitely
benefit from our products, letthem know.
Let them know that we have abusiness out there.
That's probably the best waythat we can, um, that we can get
out there also wear them out,which is great.
Let's go viral.
And then they know people that,hey, there's a business right
there in Katy, right now inHouston, that is, uh, having
(19:14):
amazing products, uh, and notonly that, but it comes from a
great place too as well.
So, all right guys, all right,I'll keep you guys posted.
I'll do another video.
We'll talk a little bit moreabout some of the aspects of the
business.
I'll probably give you guys ashow around later and explain to
you guys some of the stuff thatwe got going on how the
(19:35):
business got situated.
I think now you have now know,or have an idea, where the
business concept came from,which is going to be my main
topic here, where the businessconcept came from and why I
decided to open this specifictype of business.
The business concept, like Imentioned, came from a long time
day that I knew I was going tobe a food truck, but the part of
(19:57):
making the ice cream that Iknew I was going to be a food
truck, but the food, the part ofmaking the ice cream truck, was
because I was my favorite placeclosed and then I decided to
say you know what?
I'm going to open my own icecream shop.
I'm really passionate aboutmaking ice cream and making
products, being creative andcome up with all these different
recipes and I, knowing the food, I could do it.
And and I, knowing the food, Icould do it.
(20:17):
And I knew in the dessert sideI could do it.
There was a need, there is aneed for the kind of product
that we offer, and then Idecided to say you know what,
I'm going to be the one that'sgoing to help provide that
supply, that need, to the demandthat we have currently.
So we just need everybody'ssupport to be able to reach out
to more people.
(20:38):
And that's what happened.
The idea is there and now wejust try to make the business
even greater, to create betterquality product, better quality
items and reach out to morepeople, longer and longer.
So that was part of the firstepisode and I'll go ahead and
(20:58):
document more information foryou guys in previous episodes.
So stay tuned and see you guysin the next episode.
All right, bye-bye.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com