January 9, 2025 • 25 mins
Ever wondered how a Boy Scout's cooking hobby could turn into an award-winning salsa business? Meet Gerald Bailey, whose extraordinary life path has taken him from being delivered by the Prince of Thailand to culinary success. Raised in a multicultural military family across Thailand, Spain, Portugal, and the U.S., Gerald's childhood was filled with unique experiences that shaped his resilient spirit. Join us as he shares how his passion for cooking was ignited during his time as a Boy Scout counselor and how he overcame personal challenges, including family battles with cancer, to build a rewarding life in the culinary arts.
Gerald's journey of survival doesn't end there. Imagine enduring a life-altering accident with severe injuries, only to find recovery through unexpected companionship and the unwavering support of a son's Boy Scout training. Gerald's experience underscores the remarkable influence of love and faith in navigating life's darkest times. As the pandemic unfolded, he found a new spiritual home at Shoreline Church, marking the beginning of a heartening journey of faith and personal growth. Through his story, we explore the power of community and perseverance in overcoming adversity, even when the odds seem insurmountable.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, he was one of the guys that had the Agent
Orange on the plane.
Oh yeah, he was taking overthrough Vietnam and all that Wow
, and I'll talk more about thatwhen you ask me about my
background growing up, yeah,yeah.
But you know.
So I dealt with him dying ofcancer and my wife now ex-wife
going through cancer at the sametime.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
And, ironically, after I had my accident, I ended
up earlier this year.
I had developed cancer as well.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Thank you for being here.
Welcome to another episode ofSidewalk Conversations, and I am
super excited about the guestthat I've brought in today,
gerald Bailey.
We'll meet him here in a moment,but before we dive in, I want
to give some credit to thesponsor of today's episode,
tenfold Counseling, out ofKansas City, missouri.
(01:01):
In fact, the president andchief counselor there at the
center is a good friend of minegrowing up, and she and her
husband, rex, have been supersupportive of this podcast, and
so if you are in a place whereyou could use some encouragement
, emotional support or workingthrough trauma, they are some
people that call and they evendo that remote.
(01:22):
So tenfold counseling, we'llput the website here on the
footnotes and give them a callif you can use some
encouragement.
I know sometimes the holidaysare really tough for people and
they are the folks that you wantto talk to, so take advantage
of that as you need it.
Now let me introduce to you myfriend, new friend, gerald
Bailey.
(01:42):
We met at a Christmas party notlong ago and you know how it is
sometimes at parties, whereyou're just kind of getting to
know somebody and the more youhear you're like whoa what a
life.
And so I was bold enough to say,by the end of our conversation
hey, how about if you come andjoin me on my podcast?
(02:03):
And you were very gracious toagree to do that.
So welcome, thank you forcoming.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Thank you.
Thank you for the invitation.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So let me just start right at the beginning.
You have a very interestinglife and I want to go all the
way back to kind of the way yougrew up and some of the things
that influenced your life earlyon.
So start there, Tell me alittle about you how you grew up
.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I really do have a pretty unique upbringing, so I
was born in Thailand and livedin Spain and Portugal before I
ever lived in the United States.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
And so I kind of lived all over and then grew up
in New Mexico.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Was your family military?
Yeah, my father's in the AirForce, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So I was actually.
I guess my claim to fame wasactually delivered by the Prince
of Thailand.
Oh, wow, yeah, the king's uncle.
He was a doctor and thehospital there in Chiang Mai is
actually named after him, and sohe was my doctor.
So I have a birth certificate.
I can't even read, but yeah, soI was born there and it's very
interesting.
(03:01):
I don't have many memoriesbecause I was so young at the
time.
Of course, yeah is veryinteresting.
I've, uh, I don't have manymemories because I was so young
at the time but I rememberseeing like family videos and
pictures and things like thatand me on white elephants and
just doing different things backwhen I was a little guy and I
was that little kid that youknow.
I was born very, very young,very early, so I was only like
four pounds nine ounces when Iwas born.
Oh wow, born, so they didn'teven expect me to live.
(03:30):
My dad has the pictures of mydad like carrying me around in
the palm of his hand.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I was so small, you know.
So that kind of.
I guess it was a precursor tothe whole entire rest of my life
, not your typical life.
So how long were you inThailand?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Very, very short period of time.
I don't really remember it atall.
My more fond I guess myearliest memories of living
outside the country beforemoving here was in Portugal.
I really love Portugal andSpain a little bit, but I love
Portugal.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
And did you retain any of the language or did you
go to all English?
No, all English.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
And my handwriting today is absolutely terrible.
It's worse than the doctor's.
Most of the time I can't readit and my mom always blames it
on my teachers that I had when Iwas there in first grade.
You know, so yeah, alwaysblames it on my teachers that I
had when I was there in firstgrade.
You know, okay.
So yeah, it's terrible.
So that's why I love to workwith computers, so that I can't
stand writing.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
All right.
Well, were there some specificpeople in your growing up years
that you kind of look back onand say, boy, those people were
very influential in my life.
They were kind of heroes to me.
Have any folks like that.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I have a few people, you know, people like.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Boy Scouts very influential.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I went through scouting, I got my Eagle Scout
and everything.
But I learned so much there andthere's even more to that story
.
I'll tell you a bit later buthow important that Boy Scouts
was to me.
And as a counselor I worked inthe kitchen and it's interesting
because I love to cook todaybut I've worked at the kitchen
making food for hundreds of BoyScouts and it was great.
I loved it.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
But I learned a lot of good values there and good
work ethic, that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, now, speaking of cooking, we're going to
change up some of the questionsI sent you.
Sure We'll just go in adifferent order, as you
referenced different things.
So you love cooking, as youreferenced different things, so
you love cooking.
And so you actually have, if Iunderstand correctly, a food
company where you prepare foodthat other companies use.
Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah, so I own a as of June 1st of this year.
I used to own an award-winningsalsa company.
I started when I was in SiliconValley because every time I go
to company parties I always mysalsa that I made and my mom
always taught me never, ever goto a party empty-handed.
So I took my salsa.
One day.
This lady's like this is reallygood, you should sell it.
Well, I took her serious and ittook me about two and a half
(05:35):
years of learning food science,but I started making salsa and
selling it to grocery storesanyway yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
And, by the way, maybe we should have you sponsor
one of these episodes, becauseit's really good salsa I had it
at the Christmas party and it'snot your average ordinary salsa.
It's very different.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I grew up in New Mexico, so it's very different
than what you find out here inTexas, for sure.
But uh, so anyway, I came outhere to Texas cause I couldn't
afford to live, uh, in the BayArea, in Silicon Valley anymore,
so I moved out here in 2006.
And I looked all over trying tofind a company that could make
it for me out here, because Ioutgrew my facility there in 10
months.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
So it went from nothing to 50 stores in 10
months.
So I was trying to findsomebody out here to do it and I
could only find one companythat could do it.
But I was too small of acompany for them, I wasn't much
volume, and a couple years ago Iwanted to enter the fiery food
competition again.
So I said, hey, can you makesome more salsa for me to take
it there, because I want to getback into it?
(06:34):
He goes well, it's too small,I'm too busy.
I said well, last time we talkedyou said you were thinking
about selling the company.
You still want to do that.
He goes, yeah, he goes.
I'm 74 years old.
I want to retire, so I startedworking with the sba, put
together a plan and as of june1st, I now own the company it's
called texas.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You won't make it, I'll buy it, yeah so I bought a
company called texas france.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
We manufacture food products for other companies uh,
you know probably the southside market and barbecue.
We do all their restaurantstuff, um, the stuff they sell
at HEB.
We do drink mixes, we do quesosfor very large food companies
around.
I probably shouldn't mentiontoo many names.
I'd get myself in trouble, butwe manufacture food products for
(07:15):
a lot of companies and on the8th of this month my salsa
containers will be shipped to mylocation and I'll be able to
start manufacturing that again.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Nice, so I'll make sure you get some of that for
sure.
All right, sign me up.
Now there's another interestingoffshoot of what you do with
your food company, and we justkind of happened to be talking
about this and I thought, oh man, I want to hear that story.
So your passion for food andcooking hasn't just helped you
produce this company for servingand helping other food
resources, but you actually haveturned it also into a ministry
(07:54):
where you, I think, on was itChristmas or New Year's Eve you
made 16 gallons of chili andbrought it to the homeless in
the church under the bridge herein Austin.
Tell me how did you get intothat?
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Well, I had an accident and it really changed
the course of my life and Istarted.
You know, I became a believerand I started attending a class
that I was taking there at theShoreline Church and I heard
about this program called ChurchUnder the Bridge.
I said that sounds really good.
I said I want to help with that.
(08:28):
I said, but I don't want tomake like casseroles and take it
in there, I want to actually dothe cooking and make them good
food.
I want to do it myself.
So I started doing that.
I think February of this year iswhen I started and I did 16
gallons of homemade spaghetti.
And I did 16 gallons ofhomemade spaghetti and I don't
cheap out because they'rehomeless.
I mean I make it like if youand your wife are coming over
for dinner.
I mean really good stuff andbecause of my accident I had
(08:50):
difficulties doing some of it,but like crushing tomatoes
because I couldn't close myhands, stuff like that, right.
But I made 16 gallons and Iserved it to the homeless and I
made enough for I thought it'dbe enough for about 100 people
and I fed over 200.
Wow, it's like that fish'sloaves.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
It just multiplied.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
It was amazing, I love it and so ever since then I
started, I want to do that.
Every month there's fiveSundays I want to go do that, so
I've done that.
I've done pulled pork a coupletimes, like 100 pounds of pulled
pork, Nice.
So I love doing that.
It's my way of giving back andyou know, you learn a lot from
(09:26):
these people and I also believeI really think there's a lot of
Americans that don't realize howclose they are to being in that
same situation.
Yeah, I mean, I met one guy,Believe it or not, I met a
gentleman.
He was a nurse.
He lived out of his Mercedesunder the bridge.
That doesn't even make sense,right?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah right.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Well, he got evicted from his home and because he had
an eviction on his background,nobody would rent to him.
Remember, when the whole realestate market was going up, they
were being really strict aboutwho they lent and where, and
he's like do you know anybodythat would rent me a home, make
good money, help people?
And he's a nurse.
It's terrible, and so I thinkthere's a lot of people that
they're probably about threepaychecks away from being in
(10:04):
that same situation, especiallywith the economy.
Where it's been, it's beentough.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
So I feel good to be able to help out.
Well, I think it's a wonderfulthing you do, and I want to
reference back to the accidentyou talked about, because that's
also another interesting layeron the onion.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat happened, because when we
were having the conversation atthe party that we attended, I
(10:30):
kept thinking this can't getmore amazing.
And then it did.
So just kind of play that out,tease it out for us what took
place and how did it influenceyou?
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Well, it's a pretty amazing story.
I mean I should not even behere today.
So I fell, I got divorced in2019, and I had to stay in the
same area to keep my kids in thelocal schools.
And my ex had moved out of thearea even though she wasn't
supposed to, but my kids wantedto stay and live with me anyway.
(11:04):
So it worked out.
So I stayed in my sameneighborhood because everybody
liked my cookie.
We did like cook-offs, salsa,competitions, stuff like that
but I just got along witheverybody.
So I stayed in the neighborhoodand I rented a place and there
was a two-story home and therewas a large pomegranate tree
that was ripping out mydaughter's screen on her window
(11:29):
and I thought it was going tobreak her window.
So I called my landlord andsaid you got to fix this right.
Well, he came over himselfinstead of hiring somebody.
But he came over himself andgot a ladder, got up to the
first story to try and get tothe tree and cut the limbs.
They couldn't get to it.
He called me and said Gerald,can you come outside and help me
?
He goes, I'm going to get aladder.
We're going to go from thefirst story to the second story.
I just need you to hold theladder for me so I can get up
there and get to a tree.
I said, okay, sure.
So I went up there.
(11:49):
He held the ladder.
Well, he came down the ladder,turned around with a chainsaw in
his hand and I stepped on thepergola to keep from getting cut
from the chainsaw.
Well, the pergola wasn't madeof, it was hollow aluminum, oh.
And it gave away and I fellnine and a half feet headfirst
into my patio.
Oh, my goodness.
He landed on top of me and mykids heard the noise.
(12:13):
They came running out.
They saw me laying there in apool of blood, wow.
And my son checked me and Iwasn't breathing and I didn't
have a pulse.
Wow, my daughter down 9-1-1.
And because I'm a big believerof Boy Scouts, as I mentioned
earlier, I put my son throughScouts so he was able to start
CPR and revive me right as theambulance pulled up, he brought
(12:37):
me back, wow, and I spent thenext 18 days in ICU.
Remember that big freeze thatwe had here, everything shut
down.
Yeah, I don't.
I was unconscious through allthat, but I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Do you remember what happened while you were gone?
I don't remember any of it.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
And my neurosurgeon he said I never will, he goes.
That's probably a good thing.
So you would not know thistalking to me today, pete, but I
had a double skull fracturewith a brain clot, I broke my
neck, I broke my back, I brokeseven ribs and completely
shattered two bones in this hand.
Yeah, you'd never know thattalking to me.
(13:14):
And this only happened threeand a half, almost four years
ago now.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
So is that?
Yeah, january 8th I'm sorry,february 8th of 2021 is when it
happened, and so you don't knowthat.
You know talking to me on thestreet.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
you never know it, so I mean I shouldn't be here.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
You know, and I remember I've got pictures on my
phone where they showed me,like you know, the holes that
were drilled into my skull torelieve the pressure, for all
the bleeding and everything andwhatnot.
And but yeah, it's.
You know.
It's interesting how life works, pete, because three weeks
before that accident, I met thisgirl on one of the dating apps
(13:52):
and just dating her, just tryingto meet somebody.
And when I had my accident, myson and my daughter they were 17
and 15 years old at the timeand they didn't know what to do.
I mean, I'm basically a singlefather raising my kids and they
couldn't get a hold of their mom.
They didn't know what was goingon.
And my son saw this girl'snumber on my phone and called
(14:16):
her.
They had met before because Iwanted to make sure they were
compatible, and so she came andsaw me every day.
I was in the hospital, pete,and then, wouldn't you know, 10
days after I was in the hospital, pete, and then, when you know,
10 days after I was in thehospital, she lost her job due
to COVID.
She'd been in a company fornine and a half years, lost her
job and she didn't know what todo, but because of my background
in technology as well, I mademoney even though I was
(14:38):
unconscious, and so I said don'tworry about it, I'll take care
of you while you get back onyour feet.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
It's all good.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
And after 18 days of me being in the hospital I
really wanted to get out.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
so bad I wanted to go home.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
And I couldn't because I had so much brain
damage.
I literally had to have adultsupervision.
Okay, and because she lost herjob, she could take me home and
take care of me and you know, Ifell in love with her.
We were together for aboutthree and a half years and after
three and a half years, as ofApril well, yeah, as of April
(15:13):
this year we realized we loveeach other but we're not the
ones for each other.
There's a big difference.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
We were kind of just thrown together, you know with
the accident and everything.
Yeah, yeah, and so anyway, it'sinteresting how things work.
But while I was recovering, itwas COVID and she went to
Shoreline Church and so westarted watching that on TV.
(15:39):
And then things opened up and Isaid I want to go in there with
you.
So I went in there with her.
That's how I started with.
Shoreline and went to the newbelievers class, all right.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Now tell me a little bit about.
Did you have faith before theaccident?
If I remember right, you kindof had some upbringing around
faith.
Tell me a little bit, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I have an interesting background.
So I was actually born andraised Jewish.
Okay, my mom was a good, youknow, new York Jew and her
parents, grandparents,immigrated from the
Polish-Russian border.
You know the whole.
You know issues that was goingon back in the day with the Jews
and the Nazis and all that.
And so they fled to Americaafter they got away from what
(16:22):
was going on there.
And so I was born and raisedJewish.
My father was Christian but mymother was not.
But he, in order to marry mymother, he had to promise he'd
raise us Jewish.
So I did the whole.
You know, I went through Bibleschool or Hebrew school and
learned to read the Torah.
I learned Hebrew, all thatstuff.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
And then, and did you do your bar mitzvah?
Speaker 1 (16:43):
I had my bar mitzvah.
I still have my bar mitzvah cupand everything.
Yeah, it's like I only rememberone prayer and that's the
prayer of the wine.
I still remember that in Hebrew.
I could still tell you that inHebrew.
We'll see what that says aboutmy thoughts on things.
But anyway, I was divorced oncebefore, when I was in
(17:03):
California and got divorced andit was the lowest moment of my
life, pete, it was awful.
I lost my best friend, my lover, my everything Didn't see it
coming.
And one day this guy, my friend,says well, why don't you go to
church?
You meet somebody at church.
So I went to a local synagoguethere in Los Gatos, california,
(17:24):
and it was different than what Iwas used to because, you know,
I was a very more traditionalJew and we had a.
They had a woman rabbi.
Never saw that before.
And they're talking about thekids bar mitzvah the next
weekend they were going to doand the big ham dinner that they
were going to have.
I was like, what, what are youtalking about?
Yeah, so, like does not compute.
(17:45):
Yeah, so anyway.
And then my friend says well, Icalled him on the way home and
says well, come to my church thenext morning you know it's
non-denominational Christianservice Come to mine.
I was like, okay, sure.
And when I was driving overthere, pete, I can't explain it,
but I had the most beautifulpeaceful calm come about me.
It just seemed like this isright, wow.
(18:07):
And you know, I startedattending a local church there
because I thought, you know, I'msingle, they might have some
cute girls, somebody I couldmeet, or something like that.
But my idea of Christianityafter that was basically
watching Joel Osteen on TV orsomething like that.
But to see Pastor Rob and Lauraand them, and then open it up,
(18:27):
we started going in there andlearning more about what
Christianity is really all about.
It's really changed my entireoutlook on life between that and
my accident and it's been ablessing.
I've been so blessed, pete, soblessed.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Well, that's part of what I love about your story and
we were talking a little bitabout this before we got on the
air but that God has a way oftaking the crises, hardships,
challenges of life and if we lethim, he can turn those things
for good and reveal himself evenin the midst of the trial or as
(19:02):
we're working through theissues, and it sounds like
that's exactly what happened foryou as well.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Absolutely has been, and I discovered from my
experience of dying and comingback what my purpose is in life,
and I really believe my purposeis helping other people.
Whether it be with mytechnology background, building
an app for somebody, or helpingwith a website, or making you
(19:31):
know food for the homeless orwhoever it's just, I believe I'm
here for that.
I still have a reason.
That's why I'm still here.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
It's not my time.
When you have an experiencelike that, you kind of think,
okay, okay, there must besomething more for me to do,
yeah and um, and and so let'stalk a little bit about your
technology.
You, you know you've mentionedyour cooking, but you also
mentioned your interest intechnology.
Give us a little background onthat and how you got into that
and kind of how that plays outright now in your life, sure?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
so, um, I've been working with technology since
rocks were young, it's's, youknow, growing up.
It's just that's why I lovewriting software.
And you know, I started out inelectronics repairing video
games and arcade games andpinball machines and stuff like
that, and I was going to buy anarcade and I got an Apple
computer and I started playingprogramming on that.
(20:20):
Anyway, fast forward severalyears.
I ended up by the time I was 22years old, I managed my first
apple dealership and sellingcomputers and and it's like
that's probably more money insoftware.
So I got in the software sideof things and running software
and I really enjoyed that quitea bit.
And then, uh, being a air forcebrat, and I thought it'd be
really cool, when the iphonefirst came out, if I could, like
(20:41):
, fly around, you know the andshoot like the.
Like I'm in the cockpit of aplane, fly around, tap the
screen, shoot down my teenageson.
So that's what started my firstiPhone company back in 2008,
building apps for iPhonestarting games and stuff.
And and so I built now hundredsof apps, all kinds of apps
games, business apps, food apps,of course so I got involved
(21:02):
with that.
And so I have friends who arein bands.
I do websites for them andthings like that to help out
from that technology standpoint,because that's the kind of
stuff I can do in my sleep, it'snot a big deal, and if I can
help somebody out, why not?
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I love it.
One of the things we kind oftalked about at the party was
that you're building an app forDavid and the Bible study that
he's put together Right.
Tell me a little bit about that.
What's that going to look like?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Oh, that's pretty cool, yeah, so the devotional is
what he uses.
He wrote a book and he has adevotional that's actually in
the YouVersion Bible app andsince then he's come up with an
idea of being able and it's beentranslated to like 76 languages
or something like that.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, it's been translated to like 76 languages
or something like that.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Yeah, right, right.
And he has the idea of beingable to have one-on-one ministry
with people like in your nativelanguage, and so working on an
app for him to do that, so beable to find fellowship, find
churches near you and haveaccess to his devotional in
there as well.
And let's say, you need someone-on-one ministry, some help
with something you can have chatright in the app and be able to
(22:06):
talk to somebody in your nativelanguage.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Wow, stuff like that Perfect.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
And then have access to the Bible as well.
Have it bring up the YouVersionBible app within our app.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
So really be able to learn and grow your faith,
whether it be a new believer,like I was, or maybe somebody
that's been rededicated, ormaybe you've been a long-time
believer, but you're kind oftrying to figure out what you
want to do with your life andwhat your faith is, that sort of
thing.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yeah, I've done that Bible study myself and it's a
great introduction to some ofthe basic elements of the faith
and so good that you're helpingget that word out.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I love it, you know again, I love being able to help
people and use my technologyand help people.
You know my technology skillsto help people.
I love that, you know, andDavid's been so wonderful.
He's been so gracious andhelping me with prayer, and him
and Joanne are just amazingpeople.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah, they're good people, so good.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But his.
I mean I learned so much inthat class and I'm so glad I
took it.
I mean there's so much more andin some ways so much less to
being a Christian than peoplerealize.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Yeah, yeah.
So when you look ahead, I meanyou have all these opportunities
, all these various ways inwhich you serve what is, let's
say, and I you- know, we onlyknow a bit, but if you look
ahead, what does it look likefor the next five, 10 years for
you?
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I see a lot of growth in my new food company.
I started off with just onesalsa and I have several other
salsas and I have my owntortilla chip line I want to
come out with as well.
It's different than anythingyou've had out here and for the
technology side it's reallyinteresting, pete, because I
always used to say you know, Ilove taking somebody's vision
and bringing it to life, and I'mdoing the same thing now, but
(23:55):
it's with food instead oftechnology.
So people come to me.
They have their own familyrecipe maybe be a Bloody Mary
mix or barbecue sauce orwhatever right.
Being able to take that visionand scale it up and get them out
in stores right and help themwith that, I love that.
I could do that.
A bigger food company like Ciscoor something like that it's not
(24:16):
going to take on a smallerbusiness like that, but I can
start with that company and helpthem grow.
So for me, I see my companygrowing from.
You know, I'm in about a littleover 10,000 square foot
facility right now and I'd liketo be in a much larger facility
doing a lot more and helpingmore people.
And I even had this thought,pete, of taking some of these
homeless people that I'm helpingand, gosh, what if I could give
(24:37):
them jobs?
You know, have them come inthere and you know they can take
product off the line and put it, pack it and put it in a box.
They can take boxes.
There's all kinds of thingsthat they could do.
You know, if I could help themwith that and they can help me,
that's a win-win.
It's great, you know.
So I see a lot of opportunitiesfor growth there, and when I
was going through the SB, theSmall Business Development
Council, when I was goingthrough their, I saw this thing
(25:01):
there's a group in New York Citywhere they help migrant workers
by giving them, teaching them,skills in restaurants.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Well, there you go.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
And then giving them jobs from that so they can go
out and get jobs.
And I thought, what if I do thesame thing out here?
You know different kind ofthing, why not?
Yeah, I mean there's lots ofpeople looking for opportunity,
so I see a lot of growth there.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
That's awesome.
Well, I find your story sofascinating.
I appreciate the time that youtook to come and be with us
today and share a part of yourstory with us.
Thank you so much.
I'm really grateful.
Awesome, thank you, peter.
I appreciate it.
Thank you so much and thank youfor joining us.
We hope to have another program.
I'm excited about the gueststhat we have coming up, and so I
(25:48):
hope you'll join us again intwo weeks.
God bless you and happy newyear.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Happy new year.
Wow, he was one of the guys that had the Agent
Orange on the plane.
Oh yeah, he was taking overthrough Vietnam and all that Wow
, and I'll talk more about thatwhen you ask me about my
background growing up, yeah,yeah.
But you know.
So I dealt with him dying ofcancer and my wife now ex-wife
going through cancer at the sametime.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
And, ironically, after I had my accident, I ended
up earlier this year.
I had developed cancer as well.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Thank you for being here.
Welcome to another episode ofSidewalk Conversations, and I am
super excited about the guestthat I've brought in today,
gerald Bailey.
We'll meet him here in a moment,but before we dive in, I want
to give some credit to thesponsor of today's episode,
tenfold Counseling, out ofKansas City, missouri.
(01:01):
In fact, the president andchief counselor there at the
center is a good friend of minegrowing up, and she and her
husband, rex, have been supersupportive of this podcast, and
so if you are in a place whereyou could use some encouragement
, emotional support or workingthrough trauma, they are some
people that call and they evendo that remote.
(01:22):
So tenfold counseling, we'llput the website here on the
footnotes and give them a callif you can use some
encouragement.
I know sometimes the holidaysare really tough for people and
they are the folks that you wantto talk to, so take advantage
of that as you need it.
Now let me introduce to you myfriend, new friend, gerald
Bailey.
(01:42):
We met at a Christmas party notlong ago and you know how it is
sometimes at parties, whereyou're just kind of getting to
know somebody and the more youhear you're like whoa what a
life.
And so I was bold enough to say,by the end of our conversation
hey, how about if you come andjoin me on my podcast?
(02:03):
And you were very gracious toagree to do that.
So welcome, thank you forcoming.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Thank you.
Thank you for the invitation.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So let me just start right at the beginning.
You have a very interestinglife and I want to go all the
way back to kind of the way yougrew up and some of the things
that influenced your life earlyon.
So start there, Tell me alittle about you how you grew up
.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I really do have a pretty unique upbringing, so I
was born in Thailand and livedin Spain and Portugal before I
ever lived in the United States.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
And so I kind of lived all over and then grew up
in New Mexico.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Was your family military?
Yeah, my father's in the AirForce, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So I was actually.
I guess my claim to fame wasactually delivered by the Prince
of Thailand.
Oh, wow, yeah, the king's uncle.
He was a doctor and thehospital there in Chiang Mai is
actually named after him, and sohe was my doctor.
So I have a birth certificate.
I can't even read, but yeah, soI was born there and it's very
interesting.
(03:01):
I don't have many memoriesbecause I was so young at the
time.
Of course, yeah is veryinteresting.
I've, uh, I don't have manymemories because I was so young
at the time but I rememberseeing like family videos and
pictures and things like thatand me on white elephants and
just doing different things backwhen I was a little guy and I
was that little kid that youknow.
I was born very, very young,very early, so I was only like
four pounds nine ounces when Iwas born.
Oh wow, born, so they didn'teven expect me to live.
(03:30):
My dad has the pictures of mydad like carrying me around in
the palm of his hand.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I was so small, you know.
So that kind of.
I guess it was a precursor tothe whole entire rest of my life
, not your typical life.
So how long were you inThailand?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Very, very short period of time.
I don't really remember it atall.
My more fond I guess myearliest memories of living
outside the country beforemoving here was in Portugal.
I really love Portugal andSpain a little bit, but I love
Portugal.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
And did you retain any of the language or did you
go to all English?
No, all English.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
And my handwriting today is absolutely terrible.
It's worse than the doctor's.
Most of the time I can't readit and my mom always blames it
on my teachers that I had when Iwas there in first grade.
You know, so yeah, alwaysblames it on my teachers that I
had when I was there in firstgrade.
You know, okay.
So yeah, it's terrible.
So that's why I love to workwith computers, so that I can't
stand writing.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
All right.
Well, were there some specificpeople in your growing up years
that you kind of look back onand say, boy, those people were
very influential in my life.
They were kind of heroes to me.
Have any folks like that.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I have a few people, you know, people like.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Boy Scouts very influential.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I went through scouting, I got my Eagle Scout
and everything.
But I learned so much there andthere's even more to that story
.
I'll tell you a bit later buthow important that Boy Scouts
was to me.
And as a counselor I worked inthe kitchen and it's interesting
because I love to cook todaybut I've worked at the kitchen
making food for hundreds of BoyScouts and it was great.
I loved it.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
But I learned a lot of good values there and good
work ethic, that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, now, speaking of cooking, we're going to
change up some of the questionsI sent you.
Sure We'll just go in adifferent order, as you
referenced different things.
So you love cooking, as youreferenced different things, so
you love cooking.
And so you actually have, if Iunderstand correctly, a food
company where you prepare foodthat other companies use.
Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah, so I own a as of June 1st of this year.
I used to own an award-winningsalsa company.
I started when I was in SiliconValley because every time I go
to company parties I always mysalsa that I made and my mom
always taught me never, ever goto a party empty-handed.
So I took my salsa.
One day.
This lady's like this is reallygood, you should sell it.
Well, I took her serious and ittook me about two and a half
(05:35):
years of learning food science,but I started making salsa and
selling it to grocery storesanyway yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
And, by the way, maybe we should have you sponsor
one of these episodes, becauseit's really good salsa I had it
at the Christmas party and it'snot your average ordinary salsa.
It's very different.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I grew up in New Mexico, so it's very different
than what you find out here inTexas, for sure.
But uh, so anyway, I came outhere to Texas cause I couldn't
afford to live, uh, in the BayArea, in Silicon Valley anymore,
so I moved out here in 2006.
And I looked all over trying tofind a company that could make
it for me out here, because Ioutgrew my facility there in 10
months.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
So it went from nothing to 50 stores in 10
months.
So I was trying to findsomebody out here to do it and I
could only find one companythat could do it.
But I was too small of acompany for them, I wasn't much
volume, and a couple years ago Iwanted to enter the fiery food
competition again.
So I said, hey, can you makesome more salsa for me to take
it there, because I want to getback into it?
(06:34):
He goes well, it's too small,I'm too busy.
I said well, last time we talkedyou said you were thinking
about selling the company.
You still want to do that.
He goes, yeah, he goes.
I'm 74 years old.
I want to retire, so I startedworking with the sba, put
together a plan and as of june1st, I now own the company it's
called texas.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You won't make it, I'll buy it, yeah so I bought a
company called texas france.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
We manufacture food products for other companies uh,
you know probably the southside market and barbecue.
We do all their restaurantstuff, um, the stuff they sell
at HEB.
We do drink mixes, we do quesosfor very large food companies
around.
I probably shouldn't mentiontoo many names.
I'd get myself in trouble, butwe manufacture food products for
(07:15):
a lot of companies and on the8th of this month my salsa
containers will be shipped to mylocation and I'll be able to
start manufacturing that again.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Nice, so I'll make sure you get some of that for
sure.
All right, sign me up.
Now there's another interestingoffshoot of what you do with
your food company, and we justkind of happened to be talking
about this and I thought, oh man, I want to hear that story.
So your passion for food andcooking hasn't just helped you
produce this company for servingand helping other food
resources, but you actually haveturned it also into a ministry
(07:54):
where you, I think, on was itChristmas or New Year's Eve you
made 16 gallons of chili andbrought it to the homeless in
the church under the bridge herein Austin.
Tell me how did you get intothat?
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Well, I had an accident and it really changed
the course of my life and Istarted.
You know, I became a believerand I started attending a class
that I was taking there at theShoreline Church and I heard
about this program called ChurchUnder the Bridge.
I said that sounds really good.
I said I want to help with that.
(08:28):
I said, but I don't want tomake like casseroles and take it
in there, I want to actually dothe cooking and make them good
food.
I want to do it myself.
So I started doing that.
I think February of this year iswhen I started and I did 16
gallons of homemade spaghetti.
And I did 16 gallons ofhomemade spaghetti and I don't
cheap out because they'rehomeless.
I mean I make it like if youand your wife are coming over
for dinner.
I mean really good stuff andbecause of my accident I had
(08:50):
difficulties doing some of it,but like crushing tomatoes
because I couldn't close myhands, stuff like that, right.
But I made 16 gallons and Iserved it to the homeless and I
made enough for I thought it'dbe enough for about 100 people
and I fed over 200.
Wow, it's like that fish'sloaves.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
It just multiplied.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
It was amazing, I love it and so ever since then I
started, I want to do that.
Every month there's fiveSundays I want to go do that, so
I've done that.
I've done pulled pork a coupletimes, like 100 pounds of pulled
pork, Nice.
So I love doing that.
It's my way of giving back andyou know, you learn a lot from
(09:26):
these people and I also believeI really think there's a lot of
Americans that don't realize howclose they are to being in that
same situation.
Yeah, I mean, I met one guy,Believe it or not, I met a
gentleman.
He was a nurse.
He lived out of his Mercedesunder the bridge.
That doesn't even make sense,right?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah right.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Well, he got evicted from his home and because he had
an eviction on his background,nobody would rent to him.
Remember, when the whole realestate market was going up, they
were being really strict aboutwho they lent and where, and
he's like do you know anybodythat would rent me a home, make
good money, help people?
And he's a nurse.
It's terrible, and so I thinkthere's a lot of people that
they're probably about threepaychecks away from being in
(10:04):
that same situation, especiallywith the economy.
Where it's been, it's beentough.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
So I feel good to be able to help out.
Well, I think it's a wonderfulthing you do, and I want to
reference back to the accidentyou talked about, because that's
also another interesting layeron the onion.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat happened, because when we
were having the conversation atthe party that we attended, I
(10:30):
kept thinking this can't getmore amazing.
And then it did.
So just kind of play that out,tease it out for us what took
place and how did it influenceyou?
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Well, it's a pretty amazing story.
I mean I should not even behere today.
So I fell, I got divorced in2019, and I had to stay in the
same area to keep my kids in thelocal schools.
And my ex had moved out of thearea even though she wasn't
supposed to, but my kids wantedto stay and live with me anyway.
(11:04):
So it worked out.
So I stayed in my sameneighborhood because everybody
liked my cookie.
We did like cook-offs, salsa,competitions, stuff like that
but I just got along witheverybody.
So I stayed in the neighborhoodand I rented a place and there
was a two-story home and therewas a large pomegranate tree
that was ripping out mydaughter's screen on her window
(11:29):
and I thought it was going tobreak her window.
So I called my landlord andsaid you got to fix this right.
Well, he came over himselfinstead of hiring somebody.
But he came over himself andgot a ladder, got up to the
first story to try and get tothe tree and cut the limbs.
They couldn't get to it.
He called me and said Gerald,can you come outside and help me
?
He goes, I'm going to get aladder.
We're going to go from thefirst story to the second story.
I just need you to hold theladder for me so I can get up
there and get to a tree.
I said, okay, sure.
So I went up there.
(11:49):
He held the ladder.
Well, he came down the ladder,turned around with a chainsaw in
his hand and I stepped on thepergola to keep from getting cut
from the chainsaw.
Well, the pergola wasn't madeof, it was hollow aluminum, oh.
And it gave away and I fellnine and a half feet headfirst
into my patio.
Oh, my goodness.
He landed on top of me and mykids heard the noise.
(12:13):
They came running out.
They saw me laying there in apool of blood, wow.
And my son checked me and Iwasn't breathing and I didn't
have a pulse.
Wow, my daughter down 9-1-1.
And because I'm a big believerof Boy Scouts, as I mentioned
earlier, I put my son throughScouts so he was able to start
CPR and revive me right as theambulance pulled up, he brought
(12:37):
me back, wow, and I spent thenext 18 days in ICU.
Remember that big freeze thatwe had here, everything shut
down.
Yeah, I don't.
I was unconscious through allthat, but I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Do you remember what happened while you were gone?
I don't remember any of it.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
And my neurosurgeon he said I never will, he goes.
That's probably a good thing.
So you would not know thistalking to me today, pete, but I
had a double skull fracturewith a brain clot, I broke my
neck, I broke my back, I brokeseven ribs and completely
shattered two bones in this hand.
Yeah, you'd never know thattalking to me.
(13:14):
And this only happened threeand a half, almost four years
ago now.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
So is that?
Yeah, january 8th I'm sorry,february 8th of 2021 is when it
happened, and so you don't knowthat.
You know talking to me on thestreet.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
you never know it, so I mean I shouldn't be here.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
You know, and I remember I've got pictures on my
phone where they showed me,like you know, the holes that
were drilled into my skull torelieve the pressure, for all
the bleeding and everything andwhatnot.
And but yeah, it's.
You know.
It's interesting how life works, pete, because three weeks
before that accident, I met thisgirl on one of the dating apps
(13:52):
and just dating her, just tryingto meet somebody.
And when I had my accident, myson and my daughter they were 17
and 15 years old at the timeand they didn't know what to do.
I mean, I'm basically a singlefather raising my kids and they
couldn't get a hold of their mom.
They didn't know what was goingon.
And my son saw this girl'snumber on my phone and called
(14:16):
her.
They had met before because Iwanted to make sure they were
compatible, and so she came andsaw me every day.
I was in the hospital, pete,and then, wouldn't you know, 10
days after I was in the hospital, pete, and then, when you know,
10 days after I was in thehospital, she lost her job due
to COVID.
She'd been in a company fornine and a half years, lost her
job and she didn't know what todo, but because of my background
in technology as well, I mademoney even though I was
(14:38):
unconscious, and so I said don'tworry about it, I'll take care
of you while you get back onyour feet.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
It's all good.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
And after 18 days of me being in the hospital I
really wanted to get out.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
so bad I wanted to go home.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
And I couldn't because I had so much brain
damage.
I literally had to have adultsupervision.
Okay, and because she lost herjob, she could take me home and
take care of me and you know, Ifell in love with her.
We were together for aboutthree and a half years and after
three and a half years, as ofApril well, yeah, as of April
(15:13):
this year we realized we loveeach other but we're not the
ones for each other.
There's a big difference.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
We were kind of just thrown together, you know with
the accident and everything.
Yeah, yeah, and so anyway, it'sinteresting how things work.
But while I was recovering, itwas COVID and she went to
Shoreline Church and so westarted watching that on TV.
(15:39):
And then things opened up and Isaid I want to go in there with
you.
So I went in there with her.
That's how I started with.
Shoreline and went to the newbelievers class, all right.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Now tell me a little bit about.
Did you have faith before theaccident?
If I remember right, you kindof had some upbringing around
faith.
Tell me a little bit, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I have an interesting background.
So I was actually born andraised Jewish.
Okay, my mom was a good, youknow, new York Jew and her
parents, grandparents,immigrated from the
Polish-Russian border.
You know the whole.
You know issues that was goingon back in the day with the Jews
and the Nazis and all that.
And so they fled to Americaafter they got away from what
(16:22):
was going on there.
And so I was born and raisedJewish.
My father was Christian but mymother was not.
But he, in order to marry mymother, he had to promise he'd
raise us Jewish.
So I did the whole.
You know, I went through Bibleschool or Hebrew school and
learned to read the Torah.
I learned Hebrew, all thatstuff.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
And then, and did you do your bar mitzvah?
Speaker 1 (16:43):
I had my bar mitzvah.
I still have my bar mitzvah cupand everything.
Yeah, it's like I only rememberone prayer and that's the
prayer of the wine.
I still remember that in Hebrew.
I could still tell you that inHebrew.
We'll see what that says aboutmy thoughts on things.
But anyway, I was divorced oncebefore, when I was in
(17:03):
California and got divorced andit was the lowest moment of my
life, pete, it was awful.
I lost my best friend, my lover, my everything Didn't see it
coming.
And one day this guy, my friend,says well, why don't you go to
church?
You meet somebody at church.
So I went to a local synagoguethere in Los Gatos, california,
(17:24):
and it was different than what Iwas used to because, you know,
I was a very more traditionalJew and we had a.
They had a woman rabbi.
Never saw that before.
And they're talking about thekids bar mitzvah the next
weekend they were going to doand the big ham dinner that they
were going to have.
I was like, what, what are youtalking about?
Yeah, so, like does not compute.
(17:45):
Yeah, so anyway.
And then my friend says well, Icalled him on the way home and
says well, come to my church thenext morning you know it's
non-denominational Christianservice Come to mine.
I was like, okay, sure.
And when I was driving overthere, pete, I can't explain it,
but I had the most beautifulpeaceful calm come about me.
It just seemed like this isright, wow.
(18:07):
And you know, I startedattending a local church there
because I thought, you know, I'msingle, they might have some
cute girls, somebody I couldmeet, or something like that.
But my idea of Christianityafter that was basically
watching Joel Osteen on TV orsomething like that.
But to see Pastor Rob and Lauraand them, and then open it up,
(18:27):
we started going in there andlearning more about what
Christianity is really all about.
It's really changed my entireoutlook on life between that and
my accident and it's been ablessing.
I've been so blessed, pete, soblessed.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Well, that's part of what I love about your story and
we were talking a little bitabout this before we got on the
air but that God has a way oftaking the crises, hardships,
challenges of life and if we lethim, he can turn those things
for good and reveal himself evenin the midst of the trial or as
(19:02):
we're working through theissues, and it sounds like
that's exactly what happened foryou as well.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Absolutely has been, and I discovered from my
experience of dying and comingback what my purpose is in life,
and I really believe my purposeis helping other people.
Whether it be with mytechnology background, building
an app for somebody, or helpingwith a website, or making you
(19:31):
know food for the homeless orwhoever it's just, I believe I'm
here for that.
I still have a reason.
That's why I'm still here.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
It's not my time.
When you have an experiencelike that, you kind of think,
okay, okay, there must besomething more for me to do,
yeah and um, and and so let'stalk a little bit about your
technology.
You, you know you've mentionedyour cooking, but you also
mentioned your interest intechnology.
Give us a little background onthat and how you got into that
and kind of how that plays outright now in your life, sure?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
so, um, I've been working with technology since
rocks were young, it's's, youknow, growing up.
It's just that's why I lovewriting software.
And you know, I started out inelectronics repairing video
games and arcade games andpinball machines and stuff like
that, and I was going to buy anarcade and I got an Apple
computer and I started playingprogramming on that.
(20:20):
Anyway, fast forward severalyears.
I ended up by the time I was 22years old, I managed my first
apple dealership and sellingcomputers and and it's like
that's probably more money insoftware.
So I got in the software sideof things and running software
and I really enjoyed that quitea bit.
And then, uh, being a air forcebrat, and I thought it'd be
really cool, when the iphonefirst came out, if I could, like
(20:41):
, fly around, you know the andshoot like the.
Like I'm in the cockpit of aplane, fly around, tap the
screen, shoot down my teenageson.
So that's what started my firstiPhone company back in 2008,
building apps for iPhonestarting games and stuff.
And and so I built now hundredsof apps, all kinds of apps
games, business apps, food apps,of course so I got involved
(21:02):
with that.
And so I have friends who arein bands.
I do websites for them andthings like that to help out
from that technology standpoint,because that's the kind of
stuff I can do in my sleep, it'snot a big deal, and if I can
help somebody out, why not?
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I love it.
One of the things we kind oftalked about at the party was
that you're building an app forDavid and the Bible study that
he's put together Right.
Tell me a little bit about that.
What's that going to look like?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Oh, that's pretty cool, yeah, so the devotional is
what he uses.
He wrote a book and he has adevotional that's actually in
the YouVersion Bible app andsince then he's come up with an
idea of being able and it's beentranslated to like 76 languages
or something like that.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, it's been translated to like 76 languages
or something like that.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Yeah, right, right.
And he has the idea of beingable to have one-on-one ministry
with people like in your nativelanguage, and so working on an
app for him to do that, so beable to find fellowship, find
churches near you and haveaccess to his devotional in
there as well.
And let's say, you need someone-on-one ministry, some help
with something you can have chatright in the app and be able to
(22:06):
talk to somebody in your nativelanguage.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Wow, stuff like that Perfect.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
And then have access to the Bible as well.
Have it bring up the YouVersionBible app within our app.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
So really be able to learn and grow your faith,
whether it be a new believer,like I was, or maybe somebody
that's been rededicated, ormaybe you've been a long-time
believer, but you're kind oftrying to figure out what you
want to do with your life andwhat your faith is, that sort of
thing.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yeah, I've done that Bible study myself and it's a
great introduction to some ofthe basic elements of the faith
and so good that you're helpingget that word out.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I love it, you know again, I love being able to help
people and use my technologyand help people.
You know my technology skillsto help people.
I love that, you know, andDavid's been so wonderful.
He's been so gracious andhelping me with prayer, and him
and Joanne are just amazingpeople.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah, they're good people, so good.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
But his.
I mean I learned so much inthat class and I'm so glad I
took it.
I mean there's so much more andin some ways so much less to
being a Christian than peoplerealize.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Yeah, yeah.
So when you look ahead, I meanyou have all these opportunities
, all these various ways inwhich you serve what is, let's
say, and I you- know, we onlyknow a bit, but if you look
ahead, what does it look likefor the next five, 10 years for
you?
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I see a lot of growth in my new food company.
I started off with just onesalsa and I have several other
salsas and I have my owntortilla chip line I want to
come out with as well.
It's different than anythingyou've had out here and for the
technology side it's reallyinteresting, pete, because I
always used to say you know, Ilove taking somebody's vision
and bringing it to life, and I'mdoing the same thing now, but
(23:55):
it's with food instead oftechnology.
So people come to me.
They have their own familyrecipe maybe be a Bloody Mary
mix or barbecue sauce orwhatever right.
Being able to take that visionand scale it up and get them out
in stores right and help themwith that, I love that.
I could do that.
A bigger food company like Ciscoor something like that it's not
(24:16):
going to take on a smallerbusiness like that, but I can
start with that company and helpthem grow.
So for me, I see my companygrowing from.
You know, I'm in about a littleover 10,000 square foot
facility right now and I'd liketo be in a much larger facility
doing a lot more and helpingmore people.
And I even had this thought,pete, of taking some of these
homeless people that I'm helpingand, gosh, what if I could give
(24:37):
them jobs?
You know, have them come inthere and you know they can take
product off the line and put it, pack it and put it in a box.
They can take boxes.
There's all kinds of thingsthat they could do.
You know, if I could help themwith that and they can help me,
that's a win-win.
It's great, you know.
So I see a lot of opportunitiesfor growth there, and when I
was going through the SB, theSmall Business Development
Council, when I was goingthrough their, I saw this thing
(25:01):
there's a group in New York Citywhere they help migrant workers
by giving them, teaching them,skills in restaurants.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Well, there you go.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
And then giving them jobs from that so they can go
out and get jobs.
And I thought, what if I do thesame thing out here?
You know different kind ofthing, why not?
Yeah, I mean there's lots ofpeople looking for opportunity,
so I see a lot of growth there.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
That's awesome.
Well, I find your story sofascinating.
I appreciate the time that youtook to come and be with us
today and share a part of yourstory with us.
Thank you so much.
I'm really grateful.
Awesome, thank you, peter.
I appreciate it.
Thank you so much and thank youfor joining us.
We hope to have another program.
I'm excited about the gueststhat we have coming up, and so I
(25:48):
hope you'll join us again intwo weeks.
God bless you and happy newyear.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Happy new year.
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