February 9, 2025 • 14 mins
Are your incredible vegan recipes getting lost in the crowd? Wondering how to get people excited about your food truck—before they even take a bite? In this episode of The Vegan Food Truck Business Podcast, host Heather Zeitzwolfe talks with Chanel Goodson, the visionary behind the pink-and-viral Vegan AF Food Truck. Chanel reveals how bold branding and Instagram-worthy offerings can skyrocket your visibility—even in a saturated market. You’ll learn:
- Why marketing and branding might matter more than your best recipe
- How a bright pink truck captured the attention of celebs and everyday foodies
- Actionable tips to stand out and build a dedicated following
Ready to stop blending in and start getting noticed? Tune in and discover how to transform your vegan business into a true must-try phenomenon!
Connect with Chanel on Instagram:
Follow Savvy Frugal Vegan:
YouTube
Instagram
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Check out the website for upcoming workshops, events, coaching, and more
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heather (00:00):
I am Heather Zeitzwolfe and you are listening to the
(00:03):
vegan food truck businesspodcast.
my guest is Chanel Goodson thevisionary behind vegan AF.
a bright pink food truck thatshe started in Los Angeles.
And even in that crowded foodiescene, she made a name for
herself.
She's taken this food truck waybeyond the limits of LA County.
(00:26):
She has traveled all over theworld with her brand.
She believes it's not just aboutthe food.
It's about the branding.
You're going to learn so muchtoday.
let's dive in.
I'm so excited to have Chanelhere From vegan AF.
And I think people know whatthat means.
we're going to learn all aboutChanel's journey as a food truck
(00:49):
owner.
and what she's up to, So Chanel,how long ago did you get
started?
Chanel (00:53):
It's been four years it's been quite a journey.
This is going into year five,Vegan AF is much bigger than a
food truck.
It's a brand, it's anexpression.
I came up with the concept ofbeing AF because I was vegan.
I've been vegan for, over 10years about 12, 14 years, people
would never believe me that Iwas vegan.
Being a black woman growing upin a black family.
(01:14):
I'm always saying, Oh, I'mvegan.
AF, when I came up with the ideaI knew this had to be the name
because it was a way to expressmyself.
Heather (01:21):
I love that you've got a brand around it.
of course, Pinky Cole whostarted Slutty Vegan.
Yeah.
she was a marketing person she'sbuilt an empire around it, which
is so exciting.
it started with that idea thatbrand.
I love this because as a foodtruck, vegan separates you, but
there has to be something else.
got to be something that's goingto pull people in, especially
the non vegans.
(01:42):
for me, my passion is.
Getting as many people to govegan, or at least try vegan.
And vegan food trucks, it's soimportant to me that they stay
alive because they really aregiving people an opportunity to
try veganism people think it'selite and it really isn't.
where did you start the foodtruck?
And, had you been a chef before?
Chanel (02:01):
My background was in marketing and branding I used to
do marketing for likerestaurants.
I had a heavy corporatebackground and no food
experience.
from Chicago and my recipes werelike actually designed and
created in Humble Park, which isthe neighborhood on the left
side of Chicago.
the whole concept came aboutbecause of my experience with
marketing.
(02:21):
I wanted it to be bold.
I wanted it to be pink.
I wanted it to be in your face Iwanted you to laugh when you
read my menu.
I wanted you to engage with it.
Notice I don't say food truck.
I say a brand because I designedit to speak for itself.
it started in LA, but kind ofaccidentally has now kind of
involved into like this worldlykind of known name, which is so
(02:43):
fascinating to me because I havetoured the brand all over.
We've been to different cities.
We toured in London twice,Ghana, Toronto, South Africa.
it's been so unique.
seeing the fascination aboutsomething that I started way
back in Chicago, in a littlehome in Humboldt park.
It's been and interestingjourney, but no whole
(03:04):
experience.
I worked at McDonald's a littlebit when I was like 16, but
that's it.
Heather (03:08):
This shows you the power of branding and how
important it is what was thatlike?
you had a brand idea.
Then what was the next step?
Did you have to buy a truck?
how did you even know how to dothis?
Chanel (03:18):
a lot of research.
I am such a risk taker.
I believe that the true beautyof life is taking risks.
I knew I wanted to do it.
I knew I had to do it.
I started making calls.
I'm like, okay, what does thisprocess look like?
What do I need to do?
How much money do I need?
there's a lot But I think we seeso many brands fail, Because of
that lack of like branding,marketing And you have to have
(03:39):
them both to be successful inthis industry, I feel.
Heather (03:42):
you did a lot of research.
You're very smart and powerfulwoman.
you're like, I'm going to dothis.
Then you started in Los Angeles.
What is that?
Like, navigating permits and allof that kind of stuff where you
parked in one location or didyou move around?
Chanel (03:56):
at this time I'm new to LA, I'm navigating being a
business owner and navigatingalso exploring a city for the
first time.
I don't know much.
at this time.
I can't tell you what'sHollywood to the Silver Lake to
Koreatown because I'm so new.
when I first started out, Iactually started out very risky.
I lived in Koreatown I'm like,let's start here.
(04:18):
Then Korean Town was okay.
and I'm like, no, we got to gobig!.
We got to do it crazy.
So I'm like, let's go toHollywood Boulevard.
And I knew that there was a lotof trucks there.
I knew there was foot trafficbut I had this idea where I was
like, no, we need to be latenight.
And we were out there late.
I actually got Hella, hellaparking tickets.
I was parking in the red and Ididn't give a shit.
I'm like, I need this exposurefor my brand.
(04:39):
So I was on Hollywood Boulevardevery single night.
literally to 3 a.
m getting tickets, but I was outthere passing out samples and I
had this idea I'm like, let'sstart recording reactions and
i'm like even if they're bad, Iwant to record them But luckily
they wasn't bad.
So it was like, okay, let's postthis like let's really give this
raw uncut way of showing peopletrying our food.
(05:01):
And that has been our constanttheme.
If you go through the page, youwill see nothing, but these
unfiltered uncut videos, rawreaction, that's how I got
started.
And then from there movedaround, kind of played around
with Melrose, kind of playedaround with downtown.
it was a journey.
And as far as permits, that'swhen the research came in.
I feel like navigate my shit.
I was like, okay.
(05:22):
I gotta get a food permit.
I gotta get a safety license.
Y'all know what that looks like.
Okay, what is food safety?
Study and reading.
I was actually going to foodtrucks.
I'm like, hey, what works foryou?
What doesn't?
What I gotta do?
I was really going out talkingto people that was in the
industry to understand what Ihad to do.
And I was a woman.
So, the respect wasn't alwaysthere.
I was constantly told hey, womendon't do this.
(05:43):
You're cute.
Go do something else.
So There was a different layerbut it was a fascinating
journey.
I wouldn't change that,honestly,
Heather (05:49):
you had a pink truck, which is my favorite color.
what was the decision aroundyour, funny names for your menu
items.
Can you go into that and thepink truck, the visual parts of
the branding?
Chanel (06:01):
my whole branding concept was done by women, even
down to my truck wrapping Mywrap design was done by a woman
and it was me that said like,gotta be Pink I remember sitting
down with the person who waswrapping my truck.
She was like, you just want todo one shade of pink.
I said, Oh hell no, I want to doseveral shades of pink.
they got to blend and I need itto be bold.
And the reason why is like, Ineeded people to say when they
(06:24):
looked at it that a woman wasbehind it.
And that was so important forme.
It was like, I needed you tolook at it like, this is a woman
I own, and it's everything pink.
I went overboard.
I'm like, okay, cool.
I'm doing egg rolls.
I want pink boxes.
I want pink fortune cookies.
Everything had to be pinkbecause I wanted a story behind
it.
But I most importantly wantedpeople to be like a woman owns
that.
it has to be.
(06:44):
and what represents FeminityGirl Pink.
So, I mean, I'm such a girl togirl, like Pink Nails if I could
have pink hair, I would.
but the menu names too had to befunny.
my most popular bestseller,doesn't matter what I'm at.
It's the Vegan AF Philly Roll,when people bite into that roll,
they're always like, Oh my God,like this roll is vegan?
(07:05):
I'm like, yeah, it's Vegan AF,and the next roll is called the
Chill AF Pizza Roll.
That name came about because Iremember growing up, being in
school when I wasn't vegan.
I will make pizza rolls and itwas like a chill day.
Maybe I'm putting on Rugratsmaybe I'm watching SpongeBob.
Like I'm watching some type ofcartoon, but I'm chilling.
Like I'm a, you know, I'm a kid.
I have no worry.
when I designed that role, Iwanted it to be chill.
(07:25):
fun.
then I did the, effed up asscheeseburger roll.
concept with that was, Okay,it's a cheeseburger, but it's
deconstructed.
It's different.
It's like the opposite of anormal cheeseburger I came up
with that concept.
all funny names.
Heather (07:40):
you're tapping into memories of when you were a kid.
that kind of comfortnessassociated with it which I'm
sure people can relate to.
And that's, what peoplegravitate towards especially
when they're not vegan did youused to cook?
suddenly you've got a truck.
you weren't a chef.
Chanel (07:54):
I was in the kitchen, growing up, mother, grandmother,
watching them cook, by the timeI turned vegan, I'm like, okay.
veganize that, I can make peachcobbler, but I ain't got to use
butter, it was a learningexperience for me.
I had like a little food blogback then before I started Vegan
AF and I would just postrecipes.
But for some reason, when I mademy egg rolls, I'm like, I can't
post these.
(08:15):
I'm going to really design aconcept about that.
And I really thought like, okay,what's street food and do people
veganize that or do people havea vegan element to that?
And typically, no, when youthink of street food, you don't
think of veganism.
You don't think of like plantbased.
that's how it came about.
I'm like, okay, I can take thisapproach and veganize it.
And really elevate it in a way,but yes, cooking was always in
(08:37):
my like blood, in my spirit, butit wasn't like professionally
done.
Heather (08:41):
some of the best chefs are home cooks.
You don't have to go to somefancy school to be vegan AF.
Yeah,
Chanel (08:47):
that's your thing,
Heather (08:47):
you told us about the parking tickets, which is a
pretty common thing with foodtrucks.
what other surprises along theway came about that you had to
overcome?
Chanel (08:57):
definitely expenses, navigating taxes, understanding
what that looks like.
when I started, California,minimum wage was a little bit
lower, but I wanted to pay myemployees a livable wage.
I'm like, okay, I want thesepeople to enjoy working for me.
And we're going to be busy.
So really navigating thoseexperiences, learning how to
make money and understandingwhat it takes to run a brand is
way bigger than inventory costs,rent.
(09:20):
you want people to work for you,but you want them to be happy to
work for you.
You want them to show up and behonored.
And one of the ways you do thatis paying people well.
You take care of that.
trusting God and my faith sayingI don't have all the resources,
but give me everything that Ineed to pay people well.
First year being open I paid alot six months in, I spent about
60, 70K on payroll.
I was paying people well, wewere busy and I wanted them to
(09:42):
show up for me and I neededtheir help.
It really does cost.
If you want to be a boss, itcosts.
Heather (09:47):
that's one of the issues I see when they start a
business, they're verypassionate about what they do.
oftentimes they've been the onewho's been doing the work.
But if you want to grow yourbusiness.
You have to step out of thatrole and let other people take
over so that you can become themanager, the visionary, not
stuck in the weeds, people getinto it and they're like, I
didn't know I was going to haveto manage people right away.
(10:08):
You were like, okay, I know togrow this, I'm going to have to
have a team.
Chanel (10:11):
Yeah.
Cause quite quickly, like mebeing on Hollywood Boulevard at
3 a.
m.
That got me into my first EaterLA article, shout out to Matt.
he's still messages with me tothis day.
Shout out to Matt.
one of the head, editors atEater LA, that got me in my
first article.
then the booklets came, thecelebrity clients, I've been
quite fortunate, but thatdoesn't mean this journey was
easy.
(10:31):
It has been difficult.
we see vegan restaurants comeand go, all the time.
Heather (10:36):
you've started this brand.
you're getting in these, blogs.
you had celebrities coming in toeat at your truck.
how cool is that?
if you want to tell us somecelebrities, would love to hear
that.
Chanel (10:46):
Yeah, you know, I'm shocked.
I'm on these articles, topplaces to eat in LA.
I'm the only black food truck.
remember being from Chicago.
I don't know what it was, but Iwas number five and above me was
a well respected chef who's notvegan She run the restaurants
out of chicago called grillingthe goat little goat she opened
in la and i was listed rightunder her i was like wait me I
(11:09):
was the only food truck on thislist.
I've been so honored to getthose type of mentions and I'll
take them for granted, but Ithink it's just proof that like
that dedication, that hard work,that pushing through, more so
innovation.
My concept isn't a concept thatis kind of out there, right?
I do egg rolls and these varietyof the kind of fried and like
now you kind of are seeing alittle bit of more egg roll
(11:30):
places out there but.
at the time it wasn't a thingand I designed a whole concept
on these luxury burrito softmonster egg rolls and banana
pudding and expensive lemonade.
the celebrities cameorganically.
I think it was more like, I wantthis girl, her brain is on
point.
I always tell people this,people eat with their eyes
first, not their stomachs.
everything needs to be on pointand it needs to be something
(11:52):
that people want to Instagramabout.
I kept saying that.
if I don't get my branding rightand people don't want to
Instagram it and TikTok aboutit, I need to rephrase it.
I need to take a step back andI'm not ready.
So I'm like, okay, the box needto be pink.
I need to have a certain waxpaper.
I want pink fortune cookiesbecause I do egg rolls.
if you're thinking about goingin food, how do you make it look
good?
(12:12):
it has to taste good too.
That's how you retain customers.
But how do you get the ones thatnever taste you?
It has to look good.
that's been the biggest thingfor me.
I think that brought in thecelebrities.
the coolest celebrity I've everworked with.
is Childish Gambino.
He hired me for his kid's party.
I knew who he was, but we didn'tfind out, until we got there, I
had signed an NDA, I told myteam, I'm like, hey, it's
(12:35):
completely confidential,everybody has to sign this, all
my employees have to sign wecan't post about, right?
this is the only time I've evergone on a record, I cater for
his child's birthday party.
But here's the thing, I'm asuper fan of him.
I had to like, stand by him forit.
I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna letyou guys take this.
And he was the nicest guy.
He loved the food.
His kids, his wife, everybodyloved the food.
(12:56):
They took pictures with himbecause he let it.
And he like got on a truck itwas the craziest experience for
me.
and probably the coolest ones
Heather (13:03):
I know that you've got some plans Would you mind
telling us about that a littlebit?
Chanel (13:07):
I am currently in Miami.
I'm still going to be operatingin LA, but we're coming to a new
city.
Miami was our first tour stopthat we've ever done.
I'm announcing it here.
Heather (13:17):
How exciting.
Now, are you in South beach orwhere in Miami
Chanel (13:20):
at this time I can't tell you but we're going to pop
up in Miami and add to the veganscene out here.
Heather (13:25):
there's some very vegan friendly places in Miami.
any last words of advice forsomeone who's wanting to start a
food truck.
Chanel (13:33):
come up with a.
Phenomenal.
And excuse my, a fuckingphenomenal marketing plan.
That has to be key.
I don't give a shit if you thinkthat your grandmother's recipes
are going to make youmillionaires and everybody told
your neighbor that it's good,that doesn't matter.
And I would just want to bestraight up.
That does not matter.
Your food tasting good is theleast important element.
And people are just going to sayI'm crazy, but it's not.
(13:54):
What is your marketing strategy?
who is your demographic?
Who are you targeting?
How much are they spending?
Figure that out first.
then work on getting the money.
the money will come.
If you really wanna start abusiness, you can actually come
out.
What a good game plan to start abusiness.
That's the easiest part.
But what is your marketingstrategy gonna look like?
come up with that and beextremely detailed about it.
Heather (14:13):
I love that.
Chanel, thank you so much forbeing on the show.
How can people find you?
Chanel (14:18):
we are on Instagram, which is is Vegan AF food truck.
You can't miss it.
And then I have my personalInstagram, Chanel Coco, C O C O
5, spelled out F I V E
Heather (14:27):
thank you so much for being on the show today.
I am Heather Zeitzwolfe and you are listening to the
(00:03):
vegan food truck businesspodcast.
my guest is Chanel Goodson thevisionary behind vegan AF.
a bright pink food truck thatshe started in Los Angeles.
And even in that crowded foodiescene, she made a name for
herself.
She's taken this food truck waybeyond the limits of LA County.
(00:26):
She has traveled all over theworld with her brand.
She believes it's not just aboutthe food.
It's about the branding.
You're going to learn so muchtoday.
let's dive in.
I'm so excited to have Chanelhere From vegan AF.
And I think people know whatthat means.
we're going to learn all aboutChanel's journey as a food truck
(00:49):
owner.
and what she's up to, So Chanel,how long ago did you get
started?
Chanel (00:53):
It's been four years it's been quite a journey.
This is going into year five,Vegan AF is much bigger than a
food truck.
It's a brand, it's anexpression.
I came up with the concept ofbeing AF because I was vegan.
I've been vegan for, over 10years about 12, 14 years, people
would never believe me that Iwas vegan.
Being a black woman growing upin a black family.
(01:14):
I'm always saying, Oh, I'mvegan.
AF, when I came up with the ideaI knew this had to be the name
because it was a way to expressmyself.
Heather (01:21):
I love that you've got a brand around it.
of course, Pinky Cole whostarted Slutty Vegan.
Yeah.
she was a marketing person she'sbuilt an empire around it, which
is so exciting.
it started with that idea thatbrand.
I love this because as a foodtruck, vegan separates you, but
there has to be something else.
got to be something that's goingto pull people in, especially
the non vegans.
(01:42):
for me, my passion is.
Getting as many people to govegan, or at least try vegan.
And vegan food trucks, it's soimportant to me that they stay
alive because they really aregiving people an opportunity to
try veganism people think it'selite and it really isn't.
where did you start the foodtruck?
And, had you been a chef before?
Chanel (02:01):
My background was in marketing and branding I used to
do marketing for likerestaurants.
I had a heavy corporatebackground and no food
experience.
from Chicago and my recipes werelike actually designed and
created in Humble Park, which isthe neighborhood on the left
side of Chicago.
the whole concept came aboutbecause of my experience with
marketing.
(02:21):
I wanted it to be bold.
I wanted it to be pink.
I wanted it to be in your face Iwanted you to laugh when you
read my menu.
I wanted you to engage with it.
Notice I don't say food truck.
I say a brand because I designedit to speak for itself.
it started in LA, but kind ofaccidentally has now kind of
involved into like this worldlykind of known name, which is so
(02:43):
fascinating to me because I havetoured the brand all over.
We've been to different cities.
We toured in London twice,Ghana, Toronto, South Africa.
it's been so unique.
seeing the fascination aboutsomething that I started way
back in Chicago, in a littlehome in Humboldt park.
It's been and interestingjourney, but no whole
(03:04):
experience.
I worked at McDonald's a littlebit when I was like 16, but
that's it.
Heather (03:08):
This shows you the power of branding and how
important it is what was thatlike?
you had a brand idea.
Then what was the next step?
Did you have to buy a truck?
how did you even know how to dothis?
Chanel (03:18):
a lot of research.
I am such a risk taker.
I believe that the true beautyof life is taking risks.
I knew I wanted to do it.
I knew I had to do it.
I started making calls.
I'm like, okay, what does thisprocess look like?
What do I need to do?
How much money do I need?
there's a lot But I think we seeso many brands fail, Because of
that lack of like branding,marketing And you have to have
(03:39):
them both to be successful inthis industry, I feel.
Heather (03:42):
you did a lot of research.
You're very smart and powerfulwoman.
you're like, I'm going to dothis.
Then you started in Los Angeles.
What is that?
Like, navigating permits and allof that kind of stuff where you
parked in one location or didyou move around?
Chanel (03:56):
at this time I'm new to LA, I'm navigating being a
business owner and navigatingalso exploring a city for the
first time.
I don't know much.
at this time.
I can't tell you what'sHollywood to the Silver Lake to
Koreatown because I'm so new.
when I first started out, Iactually started out very risky.
I lived in Koreatown I'm like,let's start here.
(04:18):
Then Korean Town was okay.
and I'm like, no, we got to gobig!.
We got to do it crazy.
So I'm like, let's go toHollywood Boulevard.
And I knew that there was a lotof trucks there.
I knew there was foot trafficbut I had this idea where I was
like, no, we need to be latenight.
And we were out there late.
I actually got Hella, hellaparking tickets.
I was parking in the red and Ididn't give a shit.
I'm like, I need this exposurefor my brand.
(04:39):
So I was on Hollywood Boulevardevery single night.
literally to 3 a.
m getting tickets, but I was outthere passing out samples and I
had this idea I'm like, let'sstart recording reactions and
i'm like even if they're bad, Iwant to record them But luckily
they wasn't bad.
So it was like, okay, let's postthis like let's really give this
raw uncut way of showing peopletrying our food.
(05:01):
And that has been our constanttheme.
If you go through the page, youwill see nothing, but these
unfiltered uncut videos, rawreaction, that's how I got
started.
And then from there movedaround, kind of played around
with Melrose, kind of playedaround with downtown.
it was a journey.
And as far as permits, that'swhen the research came in.
I feel like navigate my shit.
I was like, okay.
(05:22):
I gotta get a food permit.
I gotta get a safety license.
Y'all know what that looks like.
Okay, what is food safety?
Study and reading.
I was actually going to foodtrucks.
I'm like, hey, what works foryou?
What doesn't?
What I gotta do?
I was really going out talkingto people that was in the
industry to understand what Ihad to do.
And I was a woman.
So, the respect wasn't alwaysthere.
I was constantly told hey, womendon't do this.
(05:43):
You're cute.
Go do something else.
So There was a different layerbut it was a fascinating
journey.
I wouldn't change that,honestly,
Heather (05:49):
you had a pink truck, which is my favorite color.
what was the decision aroundyour, funny names for your menu
items.
Can you go into that and thepink truck, the visual parts of
the branding?
Chanel (06:01):
my whole branding concept was done by women, even
down to my truck wrapping Mywrap design was done by a woman
and it was me that said like,gotta be Pink I remember sitting
down with the person who waswrapping my truck.
She was like, you just want todo one shade of pink.
I said, Oh hell no, I want to doseveral shades of pink.
they got to blend and I need itto be bold.
And the reason why is like, Ineeded people to say when they
(06:24):
looked at it that a woman wasbehind it.
And that was so important forme.
It was like, I needed you tolook at it like, this is a woman
I own, and it's everything pink.
I went overboard.
I'm like, okay, cool.
I'm doing egg rolls.
I want pink boxes.
I want pink fortune cookies.
Everything had to be pinkbecause I wanted a story behind
it.
But I most importantly wantedpeople to be like a woman owns
that.
it has to be.
(06:44):
and what represents FeminityGirl Pink.
So, I mean, I'm such a girl togirl, like Pink Nails if I could
have pink hair, I would.
but the menu names too had to befunny.
my most popular bestseller,doesn't matter what I'm at.
It's the Vegan AF Philly Roll,when people bite into that roll,
they're always like, Oh my God,like this roll is vegan?
(07:05):
I'm like, yeah, it's Vegan AF,and the next roll is called the
Chill AF Pizza Roll.
That name came about because Iremember growing up, being in
school when I wasn't vegan.
I will make pizza rolls and itwas like a chill day.
Maybe I'm putting on Rugratsmaybe I'm watching SpongeBob.
Like I'm watching some type ofcartoon, but I'm chilling.
Like I'm a, you know, I'm a kid.
I have no worry.
when I designed that role, Iwanted it to be chill.
(07:25):
fun.
then I did the, effed up asscheeseburger roll.
concept with that was, Okay,it's a cheeseburger, but it's
deconstructed.
It's different.
It's like the opposite of anormal cheeseburger I came up
with that concept.
all funny names.
Heather (07:40):
you're tapping into memories of when you were a kid.
that kind of comfortnessassociated with it which I'm
sure people can relate to.
And that's, what peoplegravitate towards especially
when they're not vegan did youused to cook?
suddenly you've got a truck.
you weren't a chef.
Chanel (07:54):
I was in the kitchen, growing up, mother, grandmother,
watching them cook, by the timeI turned vegan, I'm like, okay.
veganize that, I can make peachcobbler, but I ain't got to use
butter, it was a learningexperience for me.
I had like a little food blogback then before I started Vegan
AF and I would just postrecipes.
But for some reason, when I mademy egg rolls, I'm like, I can't
post these.
(08:15):
I'm going to really design aconcept about that.
And I really thought like, okay,what's street food and do people
veganize that or do people havea vegan element to that?
And typically, no, when youthink of street food, you don't
think of veganism.
You don't think of like plantbased.
that's how it came about.
I'm like, okay, I can take thisapproach and veganize it.
And really elevate it in a way,but yes, cooking was always in
(08:37):
my like blood, in my spirit, butit wasn't like professionally
done.
Heather (08:41):
some of the best chefs are home cooks.
You don't have to go to somefancy school to be vegan AF.
Yeah,
Chanel (08:47):
that's your thing,
Heather (08:47):
you told us about the parking tickets, which is a
pretty common thing with foodtrucks.
what other surprises along theway came about that you had to
overcome?
Chanel (08:57):
definitely expenses, navigating taxes, understanding
what that looks like.
when I started, California,minimum wage was a little bit
lower, but I wanted to pay myemployees a livable wage.
I'm like, okay, I want thesepeople to enjoy working for me.
And we're going to be busy.
So really navigating thoseexperiences, learning how to
make money and understandingwhat it takes to run a brand is
way bigger than inventory costs,rent.
(09:20):
you want people to work for you,but you want them to be happy to
work for you.
You want them to show up and behonored.
And one of the ways you do thatis paying people well.
You take care of that.
trusting God and my faith sayingI don't have all the resources,
but give me everything that Ineed to pay people well.
First year being open I paid alot six months in, I spent about
60, 70K on payroll.
I was paying people well, wewere busy and I wanted them to
(09:42):
show up for me and I neededtheir help.
It really does cost.
If you want to be a boss, itcosts.
Heather (09:47):
that's one of the issues I see when they start a
business, they're verypassionate about what they do.
oftentimes they've been the onewho's been doing the work.
But if you want to grow yourbusiness.
You have to step out of thatrole and let other people take
over so that you can become themanager, the visionary, not
stuck in the weeds, people getinto it and they're like, I
didn't know I was going to haveto manage people right away.
(10:08):
You were like, okay, I know togrow this, I'm going to have to
have a team.
Chanel (10:11):
Yeah.
Cause quite quickly, like mebeing on Hollywood Boulevard at
3 a.
m.
That got me into my first EaterLA article, shout out to Matt.
he's still messages with me tothis day.
Shout out to Matt.
one of the head, editors atEater LA, that got me in my
first article.
then the booklets came, thecelebrity clients, I've been
quite fortunate, but thatdoesn't mean this journey was
easy.
(10:31):
It has been difficult.
we see vegan restaurants comeand go, all the time.
Heather (10:36):
you've started this brand.
you're getting in these, blogs.
you had celebrities coming in toeat at your truck.
how cool is that?
if you want to tell us somecelebrities, would love to hear
that.
Chanel (10:46):
Yeah, you know, I'm shocked.
I'm on these articles, topplaces to eat in LA.
I'm the only black food truck.
remember being from Chicago.
I don't know what it was, but Iwas number five and above me was
a well respected chef who's notvegan She run the restaurants
out of chicago called grillingthe goat little goat she opened
in la and i was listed rightunder her i was like wait me I
(11:09):
was the only food truck on thislist.
I've been so honored to getthose type of mentions and I'll
take them for granted, but Ithink it's just proof that like
that dedication, that hard work,that pushing through, more so
innovation.
My concept isn't a concept thatis kind of out there, right?
I do egg rolls and these varietyof the kind of fried and like
now you kind of are seeing alittle bit of more egg roll
(11:30):
places out there but.
at the time it wasn't a thingand I designed a whole concept
on these luxury burrito softmonster egg rolls and banana
pudding and expensive lemonade.
the celebrities cameorganically.
I think it was more like, I wantthis girl, her brain is on
point.
I always tell people this,people eat with their eyes
first, not their stomachs.
everything needs to be on pointand it needs to be something
(11:52):
that people want to Instagramabout.
I kept saying that.
if I don't get my branding rightand people don't want to
Instagram it and TikTok aboutit, I need to rephrase it.
I need to take a step back andI'm not ready.
So I'm like, okay, the box needto be pink.
I need to have a certain waxpaper.
I want pink fortune cookiesbecause I do egg rolls.
if you're thinking about goingin food, how do you make it look
good?
(12:12):
it has to taste good too.
That's how you retain customers.
But how do you get the ones thatnever taste you?
It has to look good.
that's been the biggest thingfor me.
I think that brought in thecelebrities.
the coolest celebrity I've everworked with.
is Childish Gambino.
He hired me for his kid's party.
I knew who he was, but we didn'tfind out, until we got there, I
had signed an NDA, I told myteam, I'm like, hey, it's
(12:35):
completely confidential,everybody has to sign this, all
my employees have to sign wecan't post about, right?
this is the only time I've evergone on a record, I cater for
his child's birthday party.
But here's the thing, I'm asuper fan of him.
I had to like, stand by him forit.
I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna letyou guys take this.
And he was the nicest guy.
He loved the food.
His kids, his wife, everybodyloved the food.
(12:56):
They took pictures with himbecause he let it.
And he like got on a truck itwas the craziest experience for
me.
and probably the coolest ones
Heather (13:03):
I know that you've got some plans Would you mind
telling us about that a littlebit?
Chanel (13:07):
I am currently in Miami.
I'm still going to be operatingin LA, but we're coming to a new
city.
Miami was our first tour stopthat we've ever done.
I'm announcing it here.
Heather (13:17):
How exciting.
Now, are you in South beach orwhere in Miami
Chanel (13:20):
at this time I can't tell you but we're going to pop
up in Miami and add to the veganscene out here.
Heather (13:25):
there's some very vegan friendly places in Miami.
any last words of advice forsomeone who's wanting to start a
food truck.
Chanel (13:33):
come up with a.
Phenomenal.
And excuse my, a fuckingphenomenal marketing plan.
That has to be key.
I don't give a shit if you thinkthat your grandmother's recipes
are going to make youmillionaires and everybody told
your neighbor that it's good,that doesn't matter.
And I would just want to bestraight up.
That does not matter.
Your food tasting good is theleast important element.
And people are just going to sayI'm crazy, but it's not.
(13:54):
What is your marketing strategy?
who is your demographic?
Who are you targeting?
How much are they spending?
Figure that out first.
then work on getting the money.
the money will come.
If you really wanna start abusiness, you can actually come
out.
What a good game plan to start abusiness.
That's the easiest part.
But what is your marketingstrategy gonna look like?
come up with that and beextremely detailed about it.
Heather (14:13):
I love that.
Chanel, thank you so much forbeing on the show.
How can people find you?
Chanel (14:18):
we are on Instagram, which is is Vegan AF food truck.
You can't miss it.
And then I have my personalInstagram, Chanel Coco, C O C O
5, spelled out F I V E
Heather (14:27):
thank you so much for being on the show today.
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