April 17, 2024 • 36 mins
Dr. Mailhiot features Megan Hilbert, the dynamic force behind Red's Rolling beloved South Jersey Food Trucks. Megan's journey from humble beginnings to thriving business owner exemplifies the power of determination, resilience, and unwavering self-belief. As a young woman in the competitive world of food entrepreneurship, Megan has faced her fair share of challenges. Yet, she refuses to be deterred, demonstrating remarkable leadership qualities and an unyielding work ethic. Through hard work and a deep understanding of her identity and passions, Megan has carved out a niche for herself in the bustling food scene, earning the admiration and loyalty of her customers along the way.
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Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (00:00):
Welcome to Rowan College of Burlington
counties Baroness Podcast. I'mDr. Brooke Mailhiot program
chair and assistant professor ofour entertainment technologies
department. I'm the co chair ofthe Women's Advocacy Group a
subcommittee of the President'sAdvisory Council on diversity,
equity and inclusion. Thismonthly series highlights women
(00:22):
in leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. Tune in for a
female perspective on theBurlington County community. We
are here to listen to theseamazing women and if you want to
hear from women who lead andinspire this podcast is for you.
(00:46):
Welcome everyone to our Aprilpodcast. Hopefully good weather
this month. And bringing goodweather is lots of fun
activities outside sportsfestivals, music events, park
and rec stuff. And what more dowe love than delicious food at
(01:09):
all those things that were beingpulled and taken to and having
to go during the week during theweekends. And joining us today
is Megan Hilbert grew up inPennsauken, New Jersey,
graduated from Penn sock in highschool in 2014. She went to
Rowan, you was recruited to playNCAA Division Three for the
(01:30):
women's field hockey team there.She interned with the
advertising department at HFMlending a small financial firm
graduated from Rowan, twodegrees, a bachelor's in
communication studies abachelors in public relations
with completely fit in with whatyou're doing now, I think and no
one really probably don't dothat. But she is a passionate
(01:51):
foodie like myself, I cancertainly tell you that. And she
just has a love of food. And sheis the owner of red rolling
restaurants wanting to and nowyou have like three and four and
five and six. And I mean, everytime I think I see you on the
news, or an Insta post or aFacebook post, we got something
(02:13):
new and fresh and trendy and hiphappening. You are where it's at
young female. I mean, I can'teven believe how old you are so
much younger than me. But likeI've established and created
something beautiful. Megan,thank you for joining us today.
Unknown (02:27):
Thank you for having me, this is such a cool
opportunity. And for you to behighlighting women like this.
It's amazing. And I think it'sgonna, you know, it's where we
need to be headed as a as a, youknow, group
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (02:39):
Totally agree. So I got your bio, but I
want you to tell everybody, likehow did you go from like
communication studies to PRbecause I have students ask me
this all the time, like, I'm notreally sure what I want to do,
or I know what I want to do. Andthen they are scared to quickly
like change a path and go aftera passion or career. Tell me
(03:00):
like how did you get here insuch a short span of time.
Unknown (03:05):
So I was never the type of person that knew what I
wanted to be when I grew up, I Ihad so many different things
that I liked to do and that Iwas good at. And, you know, from
art, to singing to sports toschool. I just I loved it all.
So I didn't really know what Iwanted to do. But I also didn't
(03:26):
like being told that I couldn'tdo something either.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (03:29):
Most of us would probably say that we would
follow that to your one thatlives that mantra. I guess it's
Unknown (03:37):
funny because my dad owns a construction company, and
my brother would always get togo to work with him. And when I
was little I was like, Well, Iwant to go to work with dad,
like, why can't I do that? Andthen someone was like, Well,
girls can't be constructionworkers. Like you can't be a
bricklayer if you're a girl. AndI was like, that's not fair. So
that I told my dad and hebrought me to work. And you
know, I regretted it after that,but But you know, I just don't
(04:01):
like being told no. But when Iwas going to I went to college
because, you know, it's thething to do. Correct. You know,
it's not like, my parents didn'tgo to college. So it's not like
they were really pressuring me,but like first
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (04:12):
gen college student kind of that was kind of
set in your, in your, insideyour family, like you're going
to college no matter what youbetter find something to do.
Like we didn't get to go tocollege or No, no,
Unknown (04:24):
they were, they were kind of chill about it. They was
my dad, you know, he's atradesman. So he didn't really,
college was my mom. She went tothe Art Institute of
Philadelphia. She didn't finishbut you know, yeah, she wasn't
there. So college wasn't reallynecessarily important to them.
They just, they just wanted usto be successful and happy with
what we were doing great. So Idecided to go because I was
(04:46):
being recruited for fieldhockey. And just society's like
pushes you in that direction,you know? Sure. So I looked at
Rowan and the coaches arerecruiting me and during my
senior year I I ended up tearingmy ACL so that the coach from
Rowan personally, like reachedout to me it was like listen,
(05:07):
like I still want you to playfor me. And being young, like
sports was always on my mind. SoI was like, You know what I want
to continue playing this sport Ilove. Rowan will take me it's
close to home. This is a campusfor me. So that's pretty much
how I decided to go there. But Iwent in undecided because like I
told you, I didn't really knowwhat I wanted to
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (05:27):
do. I wouldn't wear many hats, but you
didn't know. Yeah, so I wantedto be able to
Unknown (05:31):
explore and at the time Rowan had this exploratory
program that they offered. Andit was you could pick different
classes from different you know,you didn't have to be in one
right to because you there'slimits on what you can different
areas. Yeah. So I picked acommunications class, a
psychology class, a PR class.And I liked psychology, but you
(05:53):
have to do a lot of schooling inorder to like, you know, more
schooling after your Bachelor's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (05:57):
in your work. You're like, I don't know
about that. Yeah.
Unknown (06:01):
I love school, but I just knew I didn't want to be in
school forever, you know? Yep.So I chose communications at
first. And I loved it because ofthe conversations we had in the
classroom. Sure, like it openedup subjects that I feel people
should be discussing more of myfavorite class was from Dr.
(06:21):
Dance trouser. It was calledcommunicating gender. And it
talked about like before the thereally big, LGBTQ movement. I
feel like that's been happeningin recent years, because I
graduated 2018 Okay, and I tookthis class, I think 2015 It just
opened up a conversation aboutpeople that I think everyone
(06:42):
should be required to take,like, I felt like this class
should have been a requirementto graduate, like do and the way
the professor made the classthat was just an open setting.
Everybody felt comfortable, youknow, judgment, no judgment. It
was beautiful. So that's whatreally stuck me to continue with
the communication major. I alsoreally love people like I've
(07:03):
always been in leadership roles.So I always found it interesting
to figure out how I can bettercommunicate with others. My
field hockey coach, actually, inhigh school, I remember, I had
an issue with this one teammate,I was captain and I was I was
having issues with her because Ididn't truly understand how to
motivate her. Like, I felt likeeverything I was saying to her,
(07:26):
she was taking as like an insultwhen I was really just trying to
like, push her. Right. And I wasbeing supportive
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (07:32):
and motivation. But it didn't come
through that. Well, ya know, andI was young and not picking up
what you're putting down.Exactly.
Unknown (07:39):
I was like, I don't want to see me like, I don't
want to dissuade her fromplaying, but I'm trying to
motivate her and I'm talking tomy coach about it. She's like,
you know, mag as a coach, like Ifaced this, like, you have to
understand that people, likerequire different types of
motivation are different,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (07:55):
different forms of communication,
different ways to speak to them.Exactly.
Unknown (07:59):
So that was interesting to me when she said that, and I
figured out how to eventuallytalk to her. And, you know, I
didn't necessarily agree withit. Like maybe like, I felt like
she was a little bit on thesofter side or because I'm like,
tough, like, once you tell mesomething, I'm like, okay, good.
I got it. Like, no, I don't holdit against you. But like, some
people aren't like that. So Ihad to learn that not everybody
(08:21):
is you.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (08:22):
And that is so interesting. Now probably
coming to into the businessworld as an entrepreneur and
being your own boss. And talkinglike, you know, we talked
offline here about employees andhow to handle different, you
know, conversations withemployees and vendors and
clients and customers andcustomer service. And now taking
(08:46):
what you've learned there, andthen moving it into your
business. So how did redsrolling restaurant come about?
Well, I know where the Reds are,right? The red the red came from
and I know this is not a visual,but we'll put visuals up. But I
know where the Reds came from.So tell me how did you get
inspired to buy a food truck andnot have any background in
(09:12):
culinary and cooking inbusiness? And it's Wow, it's
like it doesn't look too great,right? Maybe I'm just looking at
it with 10 heads but but I mean,how did that come about for you?
Unknown (09:28):
So my mom owns food trucks. She's owned it since I
was in. I think middle schoolshe had a smaller one and then
she graduated to her bigger oneand then she had to by the time
I was like graduating college.So I've always been around the
industry Sure. But my mom didn'thave any culinary we're Italian
my mom's telling you like shecould cook but like she never
(09:49):
went to school for it oranything like that when she was
in the Art Institute she wasgoing for like fashion. So
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (09:55):
we go from fashion to cooking and your from
PR to food day. There's like apattern here. It's all good.
Yeah, right motivational WomenEmpowering women, successful
women, business entrepreneurs. Ilove it.
Unknown (10:08):
Yeah, my mom was always a hustler. Like she was a stay
at home mom. After she had shehad a twin sister. So she was
stay at home mom. And then wehad my Well, we but my mom had
my brother, like 18 monthslater. So she basically had
triplets. So she was a stay athome mom. But she always was
hustling. Like she had ran ababysitting service out of our
house. She served tables whenshe could like, my dad owns his
(10:30):
own construction business. Sothe entrepreneurial spirit was
always around me. Yeah, that
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (10:35):
motivation of get out there. Keep going,
going for your dream, go foryour passion startup, what you
can do it, like go
Unknown (10:42):
for it. But it's also interesting, because I have them
to learn from as well like,their mistakes. Make sure to not
make the mind mistakes, youknow. And that's, that's such an
important gift that they gave meto be honest. But I was also
always in the food industry,outside of college like you had
to pay, right? Yeah, exactly. SoI bar attended all throughout
(11:06):
college at a diner. And, youknow, something that I realized
about what bartending made merealize was, I wanted to make as
much money as I could in theleast amount of time, because I
was super busy. Sure. Like, Iwas dehydrated.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (11:21):
Yeah, you had to put yourself through
school. Yeah, I needed spendingmoney. Yeah, food, or rent all
that. And I tried my parents fortransportation. Yeah, yeah.
Unknown (11:30):
So but I, you know, I was busy. So I could only work
on these certain days. So Iwanted to make sure I can make
the most amount of money Icould, at that time. So that's
what the food industry was forme. And it was also fun. Like, I
love connecting with people, Ilove food. So it didn't even
feel like a job. bartending wasthe perfect job. For me in
college. Like, I made so manyconnections with people. Like I
(11:51):
knew it was a diner. So I knew alot of the the locals from
Glassboro versus like, I alreadygo to the school. So I know a
lot of the students and stufflike that. So it was a different
type of environment. Like I hadmy younger friends, you know, at
home and on the weekends when Ipartied. But then when I went to
work, I had my older friends,like I'm talking like parents
(12:11):
age friends, that just wouldcome into my bar, and we got
friendly. So it was a really,really nice experience. And I
just loved how it freed my timeup like I was able to do other
things and still make enoughmoney to survive. Sure. So then,
that kind of ruined the nine tofive. For me, in a sense. I can
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (12:33):
work nine to five in an office with no
window. Yeah,
Unknown (12:36):
exactly. And like just having to be on a schedule.
Like, I'm not a morning person.It killed me to get up for 8am
practices, or 8am classes. LikeI'm not a morning person.
Originally, I did like the onlything that I was like maybe
going to do had plans to do wasteach, just because my my
Pennsauken highest teachers orteachers and coaches had such a
big impact on my life. Youwanted to give back in that?
(12:58):
Yeah, yeah. And I think it wouldbe like, it would still be
amazing, but I just know, likegetting up early and being at
one building. You know, my coachwould come in for school at 7am
because she was a teacher there.And then she wouldn't be getting
home until, like, let's sayseven at night if we had an away
game or something. So I was likethat lifestyle is different. And
(13:19):
I don't think I necessarily wantthat right now. Maybe in the
future. Sure. But not right outof school. Not not, that wasn't
my mindset, you know. So I endedup thinking like, Okay, what am
I going to do with my lifebecause it was getting closer to
graduation. And I had these, Ihad an internship with the
(13:42):
investment company, and myinternship boss, she was
amazing. She Her name wasChristine. And she was herself a
very inspiring woman. She's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (13:52):
having a female mentor really kicked you
into the next level. Yes, like,
Unknown (13:59):
and because she was real, too. Like she wasn't the
type of person to like, I don'tknow, like feed you a false
narrative. You know, she wasworking in Atlantic City casinos
in the advertising sector,before women were really even
involved in that, you know, soshe's been through her own
struggles, and he really had tomake a name for herself and
(14:21):
things like that. And I wasalways telling her that I felt
out of place in a professionalsetting like that, like I've
never my parents were not thetype to get a suit on and go to
work. So I was never reallyexposed to that, like, all
professional office setting.Right. So I felt when I was in
there during my internship. Ifelt fake. Like, I felt like I
(14:43):
wasn't being myself. I wasn'tallowed to be myself. And every
time I feel like I would let mypersonality shine through a
little bit like I felt likepeople were not necessarily
judging me but like, like, oh,you know, like it was weird
feeling for sure. And I didn'tlike that. Have, you had a time
limit to get things done in thesense where like you only had
(15:04):
nine to five to do a project andyou would have to leave after
that, and then start the nextday, like, if I'm on a roll,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (15:09):
you're gonna create your creative
juices are going and it's 459you're like, so much more to
dispute, or there
Unknown (15:18):
will be the days where it was like, I had nothing to do
and the sun's shining brightoutside, and I would rather be
anywhere but in this officeright now, you know, so it was a
struggle, it was interesting.Like I liked getting the work
done for and I like the creativeside of the advertising. Because
it was interesting, differentsectors, you're not allowed to
say certain things inadvertising, like, Doc, you're
(15:39):
not allowed to promise someone,you're gonna make them better in
the medical field, likeinvesting, you're not allowed to
promise them, you're gonna makea certain amount of money. So
you had to come up with creativeways to
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (15:48):
see your say what you're gonna say, but
don't really say it. Right,
Unknown (15:52):
exactly. So that was fun. And it was fun to watch her
in her role there and becreative. Yeah. So that was
interesting, but I knew itwasn't necessarily what I wanted
to do. So I'm still bartendingat this point, getting ready to
graduate. And I had regularsthat would come into my bar that
were opening up a Mexicanrestaurant on campus. It was
(16:13):
called a Mexican mariachi grilland tequila bar. And Ricardo. He
was the older gentleman that Ipretty much ended up seeing him
as like a grandfather figureafter he hired me, but that's
moving forward. But they used tocome in and they would ask me
for advice because they hadother locations, but their
locations were more likeChipotle style takeout. Like it
(16:35):
wasn't a sit down Restaurant andBar. Okay, so they were just
asking me questions as abartender like, oh, like, what
would you do? Like if in thisscenario, or how would you stock
the bar? What do you need, like?
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (16:45):
So so they were doing some reconnaissance
from the bartender. Yeah,exactly.
Unknown (16:50):
And it was interesting, because I was thinking one night
after work when they were askingme so many questions, and I was
like, this is interesting to me.Like, I love the restaurant
world. I love. I love people. Ilove branding. I'm like, what if
because my favorite, my favoriteclass in advertising, my minor
was ad copyright, where you'dcome up with the fun little
(17:11):
slogans and all the campaignsand stuff. So I was like, what
if I created my own likecommunication solution brand,
like branding company, and thenpitch it to this restaurant. So
that was my original plan. LikeI came up with the logo and
everything. It was called here,let me hire
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (17:30):
me. For your bar that I just like,
literally gave you the info.Yeah.
Unknown (17:36):
So I was like, I think I made it, I made communication
solutions, I think was the brandname, or my company name. And
then I created like this wholePowerPoint, because I had a
meeting with them coming up todiscuss more about helping them
with their restaurant. Sure. SoI was like, I'm just gonna pitch
this to them and see if theybite it and like they can be my
first client. But I was at inGlassboro. For four years. At
(17:57):
that point, I party there. Iknew the locals that part of
you. Like I knew, I just had atarget audiences. I knew where
the kids partied to likeFridays. Well, that
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (18:08):
is part of being right, like having this
business where what you're doingnow, right with the food trucks,
like knowing your clients,knowing the industry, knowing
the socio economic, like, youknow, of the area, knowing what
foods are going to work wherewhat you know, you mean yeah,
like a definitely matters thatmatters. So all of these things
(18:30):
that are leading up to whatyou're doing now, all these
little like, like, I saw thatyou were you wear many hats,
like, all these little openingsto almost like do you ever see,
you see the movie SlumdogMillionaire? Like, it's like you
had all these avenues of theserandom accounts that have all
led you to what you're doingtoday that have all kind of been
(18:54):
an input into that. Yeah,
Unknown (18:55):
yeah. And it's funny, because I don't really stop and
reflect that often. Because I'malways like, the type of like,
move forward type of person, butyou're right, like, it's all
coming together, in a sense, butI was, um, I pitched it to them.
And I was like, you know, thestudents that are 21 Plus have
nothing to do on Friday nights,because none of the other local
bars were offering like,something fun, you know, show I
(19:18):
was like, we could do a fiestaFriday, like, let's do that.
And, you know, after I pitchedall this to them, they actually
decided to hire me as a generalmanager, and nice salary. And I
was like, Look, I need a job notto graduate like I can if I want
to do this company down theroad. I can but they're offered
me this good salary. Now it's in
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (19:35):
your wheelhouse. So it's like
exactly, it's take it let'slet's roll. Let's roll the dice
and go. That was pretty
Unknown (19:41):
much every other position in the restaurant
industry thus far in generalmanager would would have been
the first for me, so I was like,Okay, I was 22 years old. You
know, I've just got an apartmentin Collingswood. So I was like,
Okay, let's do this. So Istarted work for them. And I
think I honestly only stay withthem for four months. And then I
realized, it's not for me. Mygrandma, I have my grandma to
(20:05):
thank for that. Like she alwaystold me. If you're not happy
with what you do for work, youneed to get out. Because you're
going to be doing that everysingle day of your life. Yeah.
And it's going to affect yourmental your mental health if you
don't like what you're doing.Yeah. And it did for me. Yeah.
And I'm not the type of personto like, get bothered easily.
But, you know, my only day offwas Sunday. They didn't let me
(20:28):
hire other people to delegateother tasks to so I was doing
everything myself and I Yeah,and it wasn't even my business.
And I was like, I can literallydo this for myself. And I was
just getting like disrespectedleft and right for being a young
woman. Like, even if
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (20:47):
it was unnatural in that role that and
it's yeah, I tried
Unknown (20:51):
to be little my role, like some people would come in,
like vendors or like, like,Wait, you're the manager? Yeah,
literally, just like that. AndI'm like, Yeah, it's me. Hello,
you know, and you're like, What
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (21:03):
are you doing here?
Unknown (21:03):
Oh, like looking for a man. You know, that still
happens today in my when I havethe trucks that I'm on the
trucks and whatnot. But it'sjust I was getting frustrated.
Because I'm like, this justisn't the life I want to live
either. You know, going back tome not being happy at the
internship and like, this isbasically a nine to five like, I
was I like, saw my bartenders, Iwas paying them out the money.
(21:26):
You
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (21:26):
knew that these weren't these avenues for
you, many young, you know,leaders and entrepreneurs and
people like, you know, theywouldn't have the guts, you
know, to say, Yeah, this isn'tfor me, but I still need to pay
my bills. I need to figure outanother way. Like, you stood up
and said, This is not for me,like we need to find a solution.
(21:48):
I need to be happy. I need tofollow my passion and follow my
dream. What's next? So we moveon from the we're not happy at
the restaurant? How do you comeabout the truck?
Unknown (22:02):
So I started bartending in Haddon township I can kitchen
just to pay the bills. Sure. Andmy mom had her second truck I
was telling you about that shejust bought. She wanted to do a
Mary's mobile diner, too. Butafter my experience working at
the Mexican girl, I was like,I'm still not trying to work for
anybody, even if it is my mom,like, especially my mommy and
(22:24):
her family. Yes. Yeah, I waslike, what if I bought the truck
off of you and paid you back forit? And then make it my own? And
just figure
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (22:35):
out every brand, which you were the
branding copyright? Yeah,figuring out queen, right? Yes.
Before so there you go.
Unknown (22:43):
I was like, and she said yes. Which I was thankful
for her to do. Great. You know,I didn't word of she didn't have
to say yes, she wanted to do asecond truck for herself, you
know, but she gave me theopportunity. So I decided that I
wanted the truck to be I feellike more on the classier side
than you usually see foodtrucks. You know, like, I wanted
(23:03):
it to be more of a Panera Breadstyle truck, you know, because I
wanted to be able to form agourmet like I wanted to be able
to be invited to people'sweddings, like I wanted to look
good in pictures look classy,like look elegant, you know,
corporate people, I wanted tohire me stuff like that. And my
menu. I didn't have anythingelse but a flat top on my first
(23:24):
truck. So I didn't have a fryeror anything like that. So it was
a tiny truck. Like, I don't eventhink it's I think it's like 15
feet. So I was limited intoregard in regards to what I can
get you because of my car. Sure.So I decided to come up with a
menu of sandwiches, salads andnachos. And the cool thing about
(23:45):
my truck from the beginning ismy menu was always like 20 Plus
items. And you don't see thatfood trucks often I had a kid's
menu too. So it's a lot
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (23:55):
of small truck to have that many
varieties of Yes, yeah. But
Unknown (24:00):
I just kept the bases the same, like the chicken,
steak and pork, and then wouldbuy different sauces. So like my
inventory wasn't huge. I wasjust building on repurposing and
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (24:11):
being creative and yeah, you know, so
work branding different things.And branding the foods and ways.
Yeah,
Unknown (24:19):
so and then I marketed it as like a healthier food
truck. You know, there's so manytruck you think greens Exactly.
And mine wasn't like that. So itended up really taking off
because I do a lot of like goodluncheons like a lot of teachers
like my food. A lot of bigcorporate places will like my
healthier option. Yeah. So thatwas that was how I came up with
(24:45):
and how I started to get intothe food truck business. And
then I think I had my firsttruck for about a year or two.
And I paid my mom off for it.And then I just started to see
You have money but there was alot of hiccups on the road like,
nobody I didn't go to school forbusiness
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:04):
well, right so you have to learn along the
way a lot. Yeah, like
Unknown (25:08):
stuff that I feel like they should teach people wasting
like life diversity. Yes. Orhigh school does. Financial
Literacy now is like a coursethat they are required to take.
And when we when we were in highschool, I think they just
started it. So they reallydidn't know what to teach us
yet. But I was like, I didn'tknow what sales tax was. Like I
didn't know I had you had agovernment sales tax.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:30):
Yeah. Well, no one teaches you that Yeah.
And my account like maybe Oh,three
Unknown (25:33):
grand to the government. And I'm like, for
what?
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:38):
I know. Nobody tells you about bank
accounts, mortgages, healthinsurance, life insurance. Yeah.
You're like, why
Unknown (25:44):
as an entrepreneur, like you have to get all that
yourself to insurance. So
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:48):
help. So it's Yeah, right. So
Unknown (25:50):
permits, permits fire permit? Yep.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:52):
helped the borrower to health. I was just
gonna say yeah, so So you'rekind of basically thrown into
this learning as you go. You're,you know, you're, you know,
you're a young woman, you haveno background in the food
business, but advertising,communications, perfect
(26:12):
bartender. But I mean, you hadfood business, but not owning,
like, so you're in charge ofordering and coming up with the
menu and, you know, customerservice, like everything, the
full gamut. So this is somethingyou're almost learning along the
way of being the, the restaurantowner, not just being the
employee, everything and nothaving everything else. And
Unknown (26:35):
there was like times where, you know, when I first
started out, I didn't, the foodtruck wasn't busy enough for me
to just rely on that. So I wasstill bartending and doing the
truck. And you know, I wouldbartend so you are a hustler. I
am a hustler. There would bedays that I will come home so
tired and like I would just be acrumb in my bed. I would just
not be able to have enoughenergy to shower from the day
(26:55):
and just go to sleep and wake upand have to go to the bank
before this shift. And ifsomehow there was another shift,
I'll pick it up. Because I'mlike, I need the money. I need
this paid off and right. Youknow, it's it wasn't for the
week. I my first truck had a lotof mechanical issues that we
didn't know about. Because whenmy mom bought it, it was from
someone who just sat in Phillywith it. They didn't drive
(27:15):
anywhere. So once I started todrive it
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (27:17):
or driving it everywhere, so then you got a
second truck. Then you got athird truck, right? Yes. And so
are they all branded your yourhealthy reds yelling restaurant
and now very exciting. You'recoming up your your branding
again, you're rebranding, whatdo you have now?
Unknown (27:37):
It is a smoothie and as you build truck is another
healthy truck. Another healthytruck called fruitful.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (27:45):
Why? What made you pick that type of food?
What was what was your drawndraw to that? Did you do some
reconnaissance work?
Unknown (27:54):
So that's what the truck originally was from the
owners that were selling it soit's already set up for that?
Okay, um, I love fresh fruit. Ilove it. Yeah. And especially
like, you know, there's trialseverywhere. Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (28:08):
And it's a good healthy option. When you're
saying everybody's thinkingfryer and Greece. You're going
to be there with that healthyoption. Yeah, and that's a
really cold thing cold
Unknown (28:17):
in the summertime and you're gonna do fruit pops and
stuff like that. But my twoother trucks have fryers in it.
So I did graduate to gettingfryers, but like to fry the
fries. Gotta love a good friedchard, truffle parm, fried. It's
really good. Sounds really good.And chicken tenders kids love
chicken tenders.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (28:37):
I know I have two of them. And it's yeah,
that's like the go to vendor. So
Unknown (28:42):
I'm like, alright, we so we don't do a lot of fried
food. It's definitely limited tolike fries and tenders and
churros. But it's still we stillhave the full menu on the other
three. So
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (28:51):
what would you tell? I mean, when I say
this, you're still so young.What would you tell other young
female entrepreneurs? What to dothey want? They may want to
start out in a business or dosomething and they're not sure
sure. What's something that youcan share with them a tip or a
trick? Something that maybe youwish somebody would have told
(29:12):
you?
Unknown (29:14):
I would say that? Well, one, you can't be afraid of hard
work. You can't like like Isaid, I was pulling doubles,
triples. You know, the days Ididn't want to get up or my
truck broke down and I was sofrustrated. I wanted to give up.
I didn't because I'm like I'vealready put in all this work. I
already sacrificed so much likewhat's the point of giving up
(29:37):
now? Like, what is that going todo for me? And another thing
would be to to have a plan. Butdon't be upset if the plan
doesn't work out. Because lifehappens. And when I tell you
life happens if I've learnedanything from the food, truck
(29:57):
business, anything can happen.anything can go wrong. And you
need to be able to just buckledown and, and solve it and solve
the problem. You need to be avery good problem solver in
order to be an entrepreneur, andyou can't let it get you down.
You know, I used to cry aboutthings when it would get rough.
But now I'm just like, why keepon trucking? Yeah, literally.
(30:20):
Yeah. And another thing I wouldsay is to just know who you are,
you know, not everybody's meantto be an entrepreneur. And
that's okay. There's nothingwrong with that there is no,
you're not more noble or lessnoble for, for working for
somebody or being anentrepreneur. But I think it's
important to work for somebody,because then you know, how you
can work for yourself, and youknow, the type of people you
want to hire. Like, I think it'simportant to have all those
(30:43):
different experiences. Becauseif you don't, you don't have any
knowledge in it, you know, anddon't act like you know, it all.
I think that's important, too,because a lot of people, you
know, they won't take advicefrom somebody because they
think, Oh, well, they're notwhere I want to be. So why would
I take advice from them? Well,maybe they'll tell you
something, that somebody that iswhere they didn't even know,
(31:03):
like, I just feel like you can'tjudge people based on where they
are in life, because they'vealso had their own struggles. So
they can might be able to tellyou something that you would
never even know on your ownbecause your struggles differ
than theirs. Totally agree. Youknow, it's it's interesting,
because I feel like my hardestthing right now as an
entrepreneur, and and as a newemployer, because yeah, I've had
(31:26):
people that work for me, butmost of the time, they're my
friends, or they were my familymembers, or people that I know.
And I'm cold, like really closewith. So this is the first year
that I had to deal with outsidepeople like fresh hires, they
don't know me, they, like wantto my Help Wanted, and they're
like, hey, I want to work foryou. Yeah. So that has been
(31:47):
difficult, in a sense, becauseit's just so hard to manage
people. Like,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (31:54):
Pete the hardest job, like,
Unknown (31:57):
people are difficult people have their opinions.
People have their needs theirwants their and and I'm a very,
I'm a very, like empatheticperson. So sometimes it's hard
for me to build that separationbetween I care for our people.
Yes. Yes. Like, I have to dowhat's best for my business
sometimes. And sometimes thatmight mean something different
(32:19):
for the employees. But I mean,it is what it is. And I just
have to understand that it'sjust hard to do that, you know,
especially being young, and Iwant to help everybody so ya
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (32:28):
know, you want to love support, warm hugs
and everything. But there'sthere's that fine line. And it's
really hard to learn that. Andand you only learn that, like
you're saying in the field andworking in the industry and
keeping doing what you're doing.
Unknown (32:43):
But it also makes me reflect on the jobs that I did
have when I was younger. Andthere might have been that
manager or that boss that Ididn't like, but I know why now.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (32:54):
Like it's coming full circle. Yeah,
literally, literally, I totallyunderstand that. So I'm going to
read off some of the words thatwe've talked about. And I'm
going to read them is thesummary of hashtags mottos and
fun things that we saidthroughout our talk and then I'm
going to ask you what yourpersonal hashtag is. Okay, so
(33:16):
here we go. Hashtag explorehashtag no judgment, hashtag
love people, leadership,communicate with others. learn
from mistakes, give back. Not anearly person allowed to be
yourself. If you're not happy,get out opportunity. Can't be
afraid of hard work, have a planlife happens. Know who you are.
(33:40):
What am I going to do with mylife? What is your what's your
like? Go to everyday mantra youthink hashtag that keeps you
going?
Unknown (33:52):
I think it would be hashtag define yourself. That's
it. Hashtag define yourself.Because I think that pretty much
covers like, Who do you want tobe? You know, you wake up every
morning, define yourself? Do youwant to get up and get your
(34:14):
paperwork done? Or do you wantto get distracted and do
something else? Do you want toget up? And you know, feel sorry
for yourself? Because you're notwhere you want to be in life? Or
do you want to get up and worktowards a goal today that maybe
you know, you didn't think waspossible? You know, like define
yourself figure out like whensomeone says your name, what do
(34:34):
they want? What do you want themto think of what like you said
the word you just read off thepaper. I hope people think about
me when they say when they hearmy name. You know, I think
defining yourself as important.Well, let
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (34:46):
me tell you, you are a fabulous young
woman. I mean, I can't wait tosee where you go next. I can't
wait to try some TruffleParmesan truffle fries, but I
want and I say evil as well, butI Um, you know, it's the good
with the bad, right? Yes, it'sgood balance. That's another
hashtag. But I thank you forjoining us. Why don't you tell
(35:08):
everybody where they can followyou if they want to come and
visit your trucks and see someof your awesome like menu items
and where can they find you togo go hunt me down.
Unknown (35:19):
I usually post the weekly schedule on Instagram,
which is at reds are our 2022. Ialso have a website that you can
look for my email and stuff andjust shoot me an email. I have a
Facebook page as well. Theweekly schedule is posted on
there. It's called reds rollingrestaurant. One, two, I didn't
put three on there yet, so justone. That's all right. And then
(35:41):
my fruitful Instagram, it'sdifferent. It's at fruitful
truck and Instagram pages.Fruitful smoothies and asset you
bowls.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (35:50):
So exciting. I can't wait to see
what's next. I'm going to comeand visit you and have some
yummy samples of somedeliciousness. So I appreciate
you coming and sharing yourstory with us today. Megan,
Unknown (36:01):
thank you for having me. This is wonderful. Take
care.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (36:03):
Thanks. You've been
Jason Varga (36:04):
listening to the rcbc bareness podcast, which
highlights women in leadershipwhile encouraging listeners to
build their skills, connect withthe community and visualize the
opportunities available to womenin various professions. For more
information about this podcastor other podcasts available on
the rcbc Podcast Network, visitrcbc.edu/podcast And be sure to
subscribe to the rcbc barenesspodcast available on all
(36:26):
streaming platforms.
Welcome to Rowan College of Burlington
counties Baroness Podcast. I'mDr. Brooke Mailhiot program
chair and assistant professor ofour entertainment technologies
department. I'm the co chair ofthe Women's Advocacy Group a
subcommittee of the President'sAdvisory Council on diversity,
equity and inclusion. Thismonthly series highlights women
(00:22):
in leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. Tune in for a
female perspective on theBurlington County community. We
are here to listen to theseamazing women and if you want to
hear from women who lead andinspire this podcast is for you.
(00:46):
Welcome everyone to our Aprilpodcast. Hopefully good weather
this month. And bringing goodweather is lots of fun
activities outside sportsfestivals, music events, park
and rec stuff. And what more dowe love than delicious food at
(01:09):
all those things that were beingpulled and taken to and having
to go during the week during theweekends. And joining us today
is Megan Hilbert grew up inPennsauken, New Jersey,
graduated from Penn sock in highschool in 2014. She went to
Rowan, you was recruited to playNCAA Division Three for the
(01:30):
women's field hockey team there.She interned with the
advertising department at HFMlending a small financial firm
graduated from Rowan, twodegrees, a bachelor's in
communication studies abachelors in public relations
with completely fit in with whatyou're doing now, I think and no
one really probably don't dothat. But she is a passionate
(01:51):
foodie like myself, I cancertainly tell you that. And she
just has a love of food. And sheis the owner of red rolling
restaurants wanting to and nowyou have like three and four and
five and six. And I mean, everytime I think I see you on the
news, or an Insta post or aFacebook post, we got something
(02:13):
new and fresh and trendy and hiphappening. You are where it's at
young female. I mean, I can'teven believe how old you are so
much younger than me. But likeI've established and created
something beautiful. Megan,thank you for joining us today.
Unknown (02:27):
Thank you for having me, this is such a cool
opportunity. And for you to behighlighting women like this.
It's amazing. And I think it'sgonna, you know, it's where we
need to be headed as a as a, youknow, group
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (02:39):
Totally agree. So I got your bio, but I
want you to tell everybody, likehow did you go from like
communication studies to PRbecause I have students ask me
this all the time, like, I'm notreally sure what I want to do,
or I know what I want to do. Andthen they are scared to quickly
like change a path and go aftera passion or career. Tell me
(03:00):
like how did you get here insuch a short span of time.
Unknown (03:05):
So I was never the type of person that knew what I
wanted to be when I grew up, I Ihad so many different things
that I liked to do and that Iwas good at. And, you know, from
art, to singing to sports toschool. I just I loved it all.
So I didn't really know what Iwanted to do. But I also didn't
(03:26):
like being told that I couldn'tdo something either.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (03:29):
Most of us would probably say that we would
follow that to your one thatlives that mantra. I guess it's
Unknown (03:37):
funny because my dad owns a construction company, and
my brother would always get togo to work with him. And when I
was little I was like, Well, Iwant to go to work with dad,
like, why can't I do that? Andthen someone was like, Well,
girls can't be constructionworkers. Like you can't be a
bricklayer if you're a girl. AndI was like, that's not fair. So
that I told my dad and hebrought me to work. And you
know, I regretted it after that,but But you know, I just don't
(04:01):
like being told no. But when Iwas going to I went to college
because, you know, it's thething to do. Correct. You know,
it's not like, my parents didn'tgo to college. So it's not like
they were really pressuring me,but like first
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (04:12):
gen college student kind of that was kind of
set in your, in your, insideyour family, like you're going
to college no matter what youbetter find something to do.
Like we didn't get to go tocollege or No, no,
Unknown (04:24):
they were, they were kind of chill about it. They was
my dad, you know, he's atradesman. So he didn't really,
college was my mom. She went tothe Art Institute of
Philadelphia. She didn't finishbut you know, yeah, she wasn't
there. So college wasn't reallynecessarily important to them.
They just, they just wanted usto be successful and happy with
what we were doing great. So Idecided to go because I was
(04:46):
being recruited for fieldhockey. And just society's like
pushes you in that direction,you know? Sure. So I looked at
Rowan and the coaches arerecruiting me and during my
senior year I I ended up tearingmy ACL so that the coach from
Rowan personally, like reachedout to me it was like listen,
(05:07):
like I still want you to playfor me. And being young, like
sports was always on my mind. SoI was like, You know what I want
to continue playing this sport Ilove. Rowan will take me it's
close to home. This is a campusfor me. So that's pretty much
how I decided to go there. But Iwent in undecided because like I
told you, I didn't really knowwhat I wanted to
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (05:27):
do. I wouldn't wear many hats, but you
didn't know. Yeah, so I wantedto be able to
Unknown (05:31):
explore and at the time Rowan had this exploratory
program that they offered. Andit was you could pick different
classes from different you know,you didn't have to be in one
right to because you there'slimits on what you can different
areas. Yeah. So I picked acommunications class, a
psychology class, a PR class.And I liked psychology, but you
(05:53):
have to do a lot of schooling inorder to like, you know, more
schooling after your Bachelor's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (05:57):
in your work. You're like, I don't know
about that. Yeah.
Unknown (06:01):
I love school, but I just knew I didn't want to be in
school forever, you know? Yep.So I chose communications at
first. And I loved it because ofthe conversations we had in the
classroom. Sure, like it openedup subjects that I feel people
should be discussing more of myfavorite class was from Dr.
(06:21):
Dance trouser. It was calledcommunicating gender. And it
talked about like before the thereally big, LGBTQ movement. I
feel like that's been happeningin recent years, because I
graduated 2018 Okay, and I tookthis class, I think 2015 It just
opened up a conversation aboutpeople that I think everyone
(06:42):
should be required to take,like, I felt like this class
should have been a requirementto graduate, like do and the way
the professor made the classthat was just an open setting.
Everybody felt comfortable, youknow, judgment, no judgment. It
was beautiful. So that's whatreally stuck me to continue with
the communication major. I alsoreally love people like I've
(07:03):
always been in leadership roles.So I always found it interesting
to figure out how I can bettercommunicate with others. My
field hockey coach, actually, inhigh school, I remember, I had
an issue with this one teammate,I was captain and I was I was
having issues with her because Ididn't truly understand how to
motivate her. Like, I felt likeeverything I was saying to her,
(07:26):
she was taking as like an insultwhen I was really just trying to
like, push her. Right. And I wasbeing supportive
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (07:32):
and motivation. But it didn't come
through that. Well, ya know, andI was young and not picking up
what you're putting down.Exactly.
Unknown (07:39):
I was like, I don't want to see me like, I don't
want to dissuade her fromplaying, but I'm trying to
motivate her and I'm talking tomy coach about it. She's like,
you know, mag as a coach, like Ifaced this, like, you have to
understand that people, likerequire different types of
motivation are different,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (07:55):
different forms of communication,
different ways to speak to them.Exactly.
Unknown (07:59):
So that was interesting to me when she said that, and I
figured out how to eventuallytalk to her. And, you know, I
didn't necessarily agree withit. Like maybe like, I felt like
she was a little bit on thesofter side or because I'm like,
tough, like, once you tell mesomething, I'm like, okay, good.
I got it. Like, no, I don't holdit against you. But like, some
people aren't like that. So Ihad to learn that not everybody
(08:21):
is you.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (08:22):
And that is so interesting. Now probably
coming to into the businessworld as an entrepreneur and
being your own boss. And talkinglike, you know, we talked
offline here about employees andhow to handle different, you
know, conversations withemployees and vendors and
clients and customers andcustomer service. And now taking
(08:46):
what you've learned there, andthen moving it into your
business. So how did redsrolling restaurant come about?
Well, I know where the Reds are,right? The red the red came from
and I know this is not a visual,but we'll put visuals up. But I
know where the Reds came from.So tell me how did you get
inspired to buy a food truck andnot have any background in
(09:12):
culinary and cooking inbusiness? And it's Wow, it's
like it doesn't look too great,right? Maybe I'm just looking at
it with 10 heads but but I mean,how did that come about for you?
Unknown (09:28):
So my mom owns food trucks. She's owned it since I
was in. I think middle schoolshe had a smaller one and then
she graduated to her bigger oneand then she had to by the time
I was like graduating college.So I've always been around the
industry Sure. But my mom didn'thave any culinary we're Italian
my mom's telling you like shecould cook but like she never
(09:49):
went to school for it oranything like that when she was
in the Art Institute she wasgoing for like fashion. So
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (09:55):
we go from fashion to cooking and your from
PR to food day. There's like apattern here. It's all good.
Yeah, right motivational WomenEmpowering women, successful
women, business entrepreneurs. Ilove it.
Unknown (10:08):
Yeah, my mom was always a hustler. Like she was a stay
at home mom. After she had shehad a twin sister. So she was
stay at home mom. And then wehad my Well, we but my mom had
my brother, like 18 monthslater. So she basically had
triplets. So she was a stay athome mom. But she always was
hustling. Like she had ran ababysitting service out of our
house. She served tables whenshe could like, my dad owns his
(10:30):
own construction business. Sothe entrepreneurial spirit was
always around me. Yeah, that
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (10:35):
motivation of get out there. Keep going,
going for your dream, go foryour passion startup, what you
can do it, like go
Unknown (10:42):
for it. But it's also interesting, because I have them
to learn from as well like,their mistakes. Make sure to not
make the mind mistakes, youknow. And that's, that's such an
important gift that they gave meto be honest. But I was also
always in the food industry,outside of college like you had
to pay, right? Yeah, exactly. SoI bar attended all throughout
(11:06):
college at a diner. And, youknow, something that I realized
about what bartending made merealize was, I wanted to make as
much money as I could in theleast amount of time, because I
was super busy. Sure. Like, Iwas dehydrated.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (11:21):
Yeah, you had to put yourself through
school. Yeah, I needed spendingmoney. Yeah, food, or rent all
that. And I tried my parents fortransportation. Yeah, yeah.
Unknown (11:30):
So but I, you know, I was busy. So I could only work
on these certain days. So Iwanted to make sure I can make
the most amount of money Icould, at that time. So that's
what the food industry was forme. And it was also fun. Like, I
love connecting with people, Ilove food. So it didn't even
feel like a job. bartending wasthe perfect job. For me in
college. Like, I made so manyconnections with people. Like I
(11:51):
knew it was a diner. So I knew alot of the the locals from
Glassboro versus like, I alreadygo to the school. So I know a
lot of the students and stufflike that. So it was a different
type of environment. Like I hadmy younger friends, you know, at
home and on the weekends when Ipartied. But then when I went to
work, I had my older friends,like I'm talking like parents
(12:11):
age friends, that just wouldcome into my bar, and we got
friendly. So it was a really,really nice experience. And I
just loved how it freed my timeup like I was able to do other
things and still make enoughmoney to survive. Sure. So then,
that kind of ruined the nine tofive. For me, in a sense. I can
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (12:33):
work nine to five in an office with no
window. Yeah,
Unknown (12:36):
exactly. And like just having to be on a schedule.
Like, I'm not a morning person.It killed me to get up for 8am
practices, or 8am classes. LikeI'm not a morning person.
Originally, I did like the onlything that I was like maybe
going to do had plans to do wasteach, just because my my
Pennsauken highest teachers orteachers and coaches had such a
big impact on my life. Youwanted to give back in that?
(12:58):
Yeah, yeah. And I think it wouldbe like, it would still be
amazing, but I just know, likegetting up early and being at
one building. You know, my coachwould come in for school at 7am
because she was a teacher there.And then she wouldn't be getting
home until, like, let's sayseven at night if we had an away
game or something. So I was likethat lifestyle is different. And
(13:19):
I don't think I necessarily wantthat right now. Maybe in the
future. Sure. But not right outof school. Not not, that wasn't
my mindset, you know. So I endedup thinking like, Okay, what am
I going to do with my lifebecause it was getting closer to
graduation. And I had these, Ihad an internship with the
(13:42):
investment company, and myinternship boss, she was
amazing. She Her name wasChristine. And she was herself a
very inspiring woman. She's
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (13:52):
having a female mentor really kicked you
into the next level. Yes, like,
Unknown (13:59):
and because she was real, too. Like she wasn't the
type of person to like, I don'tknow, like feed you a false
narrative. You know, she wasworking in Atlantic City casinos
in the advertising sector,before women were really even
involved in that, you know, soshe's been through her own
struggles, and he really had tomake a name for herself and
(14:21):
things like that. And I wasalways telling her that I felt
out of place in a professionalsetting like that, like I've
never my parents were not thetype to get a suit on and go to
work. So I was never reallyexposed to that, like, all
professional office setting.Right. So I felt when I was in
there during my internship. Ifelt fake. Like, I felt like I
(14:43):
wasn't being myself. I wasn'tallowed to be myself. And every
time I feel like I would let mypersonality shine through a
little bit like I felt likepeople were not necessarily
judging me but like, like, oh,you know, like it was weird
feeling for sure. And I didn'tlike that. Have, you had a time
limit to get things done in thesense where like you only had
(15:04):
nine to five to do a project andyou would have to leave after
that, and then start the nextday, like, if I'm on a roll,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (15:09):
you're gonna create your creative
juices are going and it's 459you're like, so much more to
dispute, or there
Unknown (15:18):
will be the days where it was like, I had nothing to do
and the sun's shining brightoutside, and I would rather be
anywhere but in this officeright now, you know, so it was a
struggle, it was interesting.Like I liked getting the work
done for and I like the creativeside of the advertising. Because
it was interesting, differentsectors, you're not allowed to
say certain things inadvertising, like, Doc, you're
(15:39):
not allowed to promise someone,you're gonna make them better in
the medical field, likeinvesting, you're not allowed to
promise them, you're gonna makea certain amount of money. So
you had to come up with creativeways to
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (15:48):
see your say what you're gonna say, but
don't really say it. Right,
Unknown (15:52):
exactly. So that was fun. And it was fun to watch her
in her role there and becreative. Yeah. So that was
interesting, but I knew itwasn't necessarily what I wanted
to do. So I'm still bartendingat this point, getting ready to
graduate. And I had regularsthat would come into my bar that
were opening up a Mexicanrestaurant on campus. It was
(16:13):
called a Mexican mariachi grilland tequila bar. And Ricardo. He
was the older gentleman that Ipretty much ended up seeing him
as like a grandfather figureafter he hired me, but that's
moving forward. But they used tocome in and they would ask me
for advice because they hadother locations, but their
locations were more likeChipotle style takeout. Like it
(16:35):
wasn't a sit down Restaurant andBar. Okay, so they were just
asking me questions as abartender like, oh, like, what
would you do? Like if in thisscenario, or how would you stock
the bar? What do you need, like?
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (16:45):
So so they were doing some reconnaissance
from the bartender. Yeah,exactly.
Unknown (16:50):
And it was interesting, because I was thinking one night
after work when they were askingme so many questions, and I was
like, this is interesting to me.Like, I love the restaurant
world. I love. I love people. Ilove branding. I'm like, what if
because my favorite, my favoriteclass in advertising, my minor
was ad copyright, where you'dcome up with the fun little
(17:11):
slogans and all the campaignsand stuff. So I was like, what
if I created my own likecommunication solution brand,
like branding company, and thenpitch it to this restaurant. So
that was my original plan. LikeI came up with the logo and
everything. It was called here,let me hire
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (17:30):
me. For your bar that I just like,
literally gave you the info.Yeah.
Unknown (17:36):
So I was like, I think I made it, I made communication
solutions, I think was the brandname, or my company name. And
then I created like this wholePowerPoint, because I had a
meeting with them coming up todiscuss more about helping them
with their restaurant. Sure. SoI was like, I'm just gonna pitch
this to them and see if theybite it and like they can be my
first client. But I was at inGlassboro. For four years. At
(17:57):
that point, I party there. Iknew the locals that part of
you. Like I knew, I just had atarget audiences. I knew where
the kids partied to likeFridays. Well, that
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (18:08):
is part of being right, like having this
business where what you're doingnow, right with the food trucks,
like knowing your clients,knowing the industry, knowing
the socio economic, like, youknow, of the area, knowing what
foods are going to work wherewhat you know, you mean yeah,
like a definitely matters thatmatters. So all of these things
(18:30):
that are leading up to whatyou're doing now, all these
little like, like, I saw thatyou were you wear many hats,
like, all these little openingsto almost like do you ever see,
you see the movie SlumdogMillionaire? Like, it's like you
had all these avenues of theserandom accounts that have all
led you to what you're doingtoday that have all kind of been
(18:54):
an input into that. Yeah,
Unknown (18:55):
yeah. And it's funny, because I don't really stop and
reflect that often. Because I'malways like, the type of like,
move forward type of person, butyou're right, like, it's all
coming together, in a sense, butI was, um, I pitched it to them.
And I was like, you know, thestudents that are 21 Plus have
nothing to do on Friday nights,because none of the other local
bars were offering like,something fun, you know, show I
(19:18):
was like, we could do a fiestaFriday, like, let's do that.
And, you know, after I pitchedall this to them, they actually
decided to hire me as a generalmanager, and nice salary. And I
was like, Look, I need a job notto graduate like I can if I want
to do this company down theroad. I can but they're offered
me this good salary. Now it's in
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (19:35):
your wheelhouse. So it's like
exactly, it's take it let'slet's roll. Let's roll the dice
and go. That was pretty
Unknown (19:41):
much every other position in the restaurant
industry thus far in generalmanager would would have been
the first for me, so I was like,Okay, I was 22 years old. You
know, I've just got an apartmentin Collingswood. So I was like,
Okay, let's do this. So Istarted work for them. And I
think I honestly only stay withthem for four months. And then I
realized, it's not for me. Mygrandma, I have my grandma to
(20:05):
thank for that. Like she alwaystold me. If you're not happy
with what you do for work, youneed to get out. Because you're
going to be doing that everysingle day of your life. Yeah.
And it's going to affect yourmental your mental health if you
don't like what you're doing.Yeah. And it did for me. Yeah.
And I'm not the type of personto like, get bothered easily.
But, you know, my only day offwas Sunday. They didn't let me
(20:28):
hire other people to delegateother tasks to so I was doing
everything myself and I Yeah,and it wasn't even my business.
And I was like, I can literallydo this for myself. And I was
just getting like disrespectedleft and right for being a young
woman. Like, even if
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (20:47):
it was unnatural in that role that and
it's yeah, I tried
Unknown (20:51):
to be little my role, like some people would come in,
like vendors or like, like,Wait, you're the manager? Yeah,
literally, just like that. AndI'm like, Yeah, it's me. Hello,
you know, and you're like, What
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (21:03):
are you doing here?
Unknown (21:03):
Oh, like looking for a man. You know, that still
happens today in my when I havethe trucks that I'm on the
trucks and whatnot. But it'sjust I was getting frustrated.
Because I'm like, this justisn't the life I want to live
either. You know, going back tome not being happy at the
internship and like, this isbasically a nine to five like, I
was I like, saw my bartenders, Iwas paying them out the money.
(21:26):
You
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (21:26):
knew that these weren't these avenues for
you, many young, you know,leaders and entrepreneurs and
people like, you know, theywouldn't have the guts, you
know, to say, Yeah, this isn'tfor me, but I still need to pay
my bills. I need to figure outanother way. Like, you stood up
and said, This is not for me,like we need to find a solution.
(21:48):
I need to be happy. I need tofollow my passion and follow my
dream. What's next? So we moveon from the we're not happy at
the restaurant? How do you comeabout the truck?
Unknown (22:02):
So I started bartending in Haddon township I can kitchen
just to pay the bills. Sure. Andmy mom had her second truck I
was telling you about that shejust bought. She wanted to do a
Mary's mobile diner, too. Butafter my experience working at
the Mexican girl, I was like,I'm still not trying to work for
anybody, even if it is my mom,like, especially my mommy and
(22:24):
her family. Yes. Yeah, I waslike, what if I bought the truck
off of you and paid you back forit? And then make it my own? And
just figure
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (22:35):
out every brand, which you were the
branding copyright? Yeah,figuring out queen, right? Yes.
Before so there you go.
Unknown (22:43):
I was like, and she said yes. Which I was thankful
for her to do. Great. You know,I didn't word of she didn't have
to say yes, she wanted to do asecond truck for herself, you
know, but she gave me theopportunity. So I decided that I
wanted the truck to be I feellike more on the classier side
than you usually see foodtrucks. You know, like, I wanted
(23:03):
it to be more of a Panera Breadstyle truck, you know, because I
wanted to be able to form agourmet like I wanted to be able
to be invited to people'sweddings, like I wanted to look
good in pictures look classy,like look elegant, you know,
corporate people, I wanted tohire me stuff like that. And my
menu. I didn't have anythingelse but a flat top on my first
(23:24):
truck. So I didn't have a fryeror anything like that. So it was
a tiny truck. Like, I don't eventhink it's I think it's like 15
feet. So I was limited intoregard in regards to what I can
get you because of my car. Sure.So I decided to come up with a
menu of sandwiches, salads andnachos. And the cool thing about
(23:45):
my truck from the beginning ismy menu was always like 20 Plus
items. And you don't see thatfood trucks often I had a kid's
menu too. So it's a lot
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (23:55):
of small truck to have that many
varieties of Yes, yeah. But
Unknown (24:00):
I just kept the bases the same, like the chicken,
steak and pork, and then wouldbuy different sauces. So like my
inventory wasn't huge. I wasjust building on repurposing and
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (24:11):
being creative and yeah, you know, so
work branding different things.And branding the foods and ways.
Yeah,
Unknown (24:19):
so and then I marketed it as like a healthier food
truck. You know, there's so manytruck you think greens Exactly.
And mine wasn't like that. So itended up really taking off
because I do a lot of like goodluncheons like a lot of teachers
like my food. A lot of bigcorporate places will like my
healthier option. Yeah. So thatwas that was how I came up with
(24:45):
and how I started to get intothe food truck business. And
then I think I had my firsttruck for about a year or two.
And I paid my mom off for it.And then I just started to see
You have money but there was alot of hiccups on the road like,
nobody I didn't go to school forbusiness
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:04):
well, right so you have to learn along the
way a lot. Yeah, like
Unknown (25:08):
stuff that I feel like they should teach people wasting
like life diversity. Yes. Orhigh school does. Financial
Literacy now is like a coursethat they are required to take.
And when we when we were in highschool, I think they just
started it. So they reallydidn't know what to teach us
yet. But I was like, I didn'tknow what sales tax was. Like I
didn't know I had you had agovernment sales tax.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:30):
Yeah. Well, no one teaches you that Yeah.
And my account like maybe Oh,three
Unknown (25:33):
grand to the government. And I'm like, for
what?
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:38):
I know. Nobody tells you about bank
accounts, mortgages, healthinsurance, life insurance. Yeah.
You're like, why
Unknown (25:44):
as an entrepreneur, like you have to get all that
yourself to insurance. So
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:48):
help. So it's Yeah, right. So
Unknown (25:50):
permits, permits fire permit? Yep.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (25:52):
helped the borrower to health. I was just
gonna say yeah, so So you'rekind of basically thrown into
this learning as you go. You're,you know, you're, you know,
you're a young woman, you haveno background in the food
business, but advertising,communications, perfect
(26:12):
bartender. But I mean, you hadfood business, but not owning,
like, so you're in charge ofordering and coming up with the
menu and, you know, customerservice, like everything, the
full gamut. So this is somethingyou're almost learning along the
way of being the, the restaurantowner, not just being the
employee, everything and nothaving everything else. And
Unknown (26:35):
there was like times where, you know, when I first
started out, I didn't, the foodtruck wasn't busy enough for me
to just rely on that. So I wasstill bartending and doing the
truck. And you know, I wouldbartend so you are a hustler. I
am a hustler. There would bedays that I will come home so
tired and like I would just be acrumb in my bed. I would just
not be able to have enoughenergy to shower from the day
(26:55):
and just go to sleep and wake upand have to go to the bank
before this shift. And ifsomehow there was another shift,
I'll pick it up. Because I'mlike, I need the money. I need
this paid off and right. Youknow, it's it wasn't for the
week. I my first truck had a lotof mechanical issues that we
didn't know about. Because whenmy mom bought it, it was from
someone who just sat in Phillywith it. They didn't drive
(27:15):
anywhere. So once I started todrive it
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (27:17):
or driving it everywhere, so then you got a
second truck. Then you got athird truck, right? Yes. And so
are they all branded your yourhealthy reds yelling restaurant
and now very exciting. You'recoming up your your branding
again, you're rebranding, whatdo you have now?
Unknown (27:37):
It is a smoothie and as you build truck is another
healthy truck. Another healthytruck called fruitful.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (27:45):
Why? What made you pick that type of food?
What was what was your drawndraw to that? Did you do some
reconnaissance work?
Unknown (27:54):
So that's what the truck originally was from the
owners that were selling it soit's already set up for that?
Okay, um, I love fresh fruit. Ilove it. Yeah. And especially
like, you know, there's trialseverywhere. Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (28:08):
And it's a good healthy option. When you're
saying everybody's thinkingfryer and Greece. You're going
to be there with that healthyoption. Yeah, and that's a
really cold thing cold
Unknown (28:17):
in the summertime and you're gonna do fruit pops and
stuff like that. But my twoother trucks have fryers in it.
So I did graduate to gettingfryers, but like to fry the
fries. Gotta love a good friedchard, truffle parm, fried. It's
really good. Sounds really good.And chicken tenders kids love
chicken tenders.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (28:37):
I know I have two of them. And it's yeah,
that's like the go to vendor. So
Unknown (28:42):
I'm like, alright, we so we don't do a lot of fried
food. It's definitely limited tolike fries and tenders and
churros. But it's still we stillhave the full menu on the other
three. So
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (28:51):
what would you tell? I mean, when I say
this, you're still so young.What would you tell other young
female entrepreneurs? What to dothey want? They may want to
start out in a business or dosomething and they're not sure
sure. What's something that youcan share with them a tip or a
trick? Something that maybe youwish somebody would have told
(29:12):
you?
Unknown (29:14):
I would say that? Well, one, you can't be afraid of hard
work. You can't like like Isaid, I was pulling doubles,
triples. You know, the days Ididn't want to get up or my
truck broke down and I was sofrustrated. I wanted to give up.
I didn't because I'm like I'vealready put in all this work. I
already sacrificed so much likewhat's the point of giving up
(29:37):
now? Like, what is that going todo for me? And another thing
would be to to have a plan. Butdon't be upset if the plan
doesn't work out. Because lifehappens. And when I tell you
life happens if I've learnedanything from the food, truck
(29:57):
business, anything can happen.anything can go wrong. And you
need to be able to just buckledown and, and solve it and solve
the problem. You need to be avery good problem solver in
order to be an entrepreneur, andyou can't let it get you down.
You know, I used to cry aboutthings when it would get rough.
But now I'm just like, why keepon trucking? Yeah, literally.
(30:20):
Yeah. And another thing I wouldsay is to just know who you are,
you know, not everybody's meantto be an entrepreneur. And
that's okay. There's nothingwrong with that there is no,
you're not more noble or lessnoble for, for working for
somebody or being anentrepreneur. But I think it's
important to work for somebody,because then you know, how you
can work for yourself, and youknow, the type of people you
want to hire. Like, I think it'simportant to have all those
(30:43):
different experiences. Becauseif you don't, you don't have any
knowledge in it, you know, anddon't act like you know, it all.
I think that's important, too,because a lot of people, you
know, they won't take advicefrom somebody because they
think, Oh, well, they're notwhere I want to be. So why would
I take advice from them? Well,maybe they'll tell you
something, that somebody that iswhere they didn't even know,
(31:03):
like, I just feel like you can'tjudge people based on where they
are in life, because they'vealso had their own struggles. So
they can might be able to tellyou something that you would
never even know on your ownbecause your struggles differ
than theirs. Totally agree. Youknow, it's it's interesting,
because I feel like my hardestthing right now as an
entrepreneur, and and as a newemployer, because yeah, I've had
(31:26):
people that work for me, butmost of the time, they're my
friends, or they were my familymembers, or people that I know.
And I'm cold, like really closewith. So this is the first year
that I had to deal with outsidepeople like fresh hires, they
don't know me, they, like wantto my Help Wanted, and they're
like, hey, I want to work foryou. Yeah. So that has been
(31:47):
difficult, in a sense, becauseit's just so hard to manage
people. Like,
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (31:54):
Pete the hardest job, like,
Unknown (31:57):
people are difficult people have their opinions.
People have their needs theirwants their and and I'm a very,
I'm a very, like empatheticperson. So sometimes it's hard
for me to build that separationbetween I care for our people.
Yes. Yes. Like, I have to dowhat's best for my business
sometimes. And sometimes thatmight mean something different
(32:19):
for the employees. But I mean,it is what it is. And I just
have to understand that it'sjust hard to do that, you know,
especially being young, and Iwant to help everybody so ya
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (32:28):
know, you want to love support, warm hugs
and everything. But there'sthere's that fine line. And it's
really hard to learn that. Andand you only learn that, like
you're saying in the field andworking in the industry and
keeping doing what you're doing.
Unknown (32:43):
But it also makes me reflect on the jobs that I did
have when I was younger. Andthere might have been that
manager or that boss that Ididn't like, but I know why now.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (32:54):
Like it's coming full circle. Yeah,
literally, literally, I totallyunderstand that. So I'm going to
read off some of the words thatwe've talked about. And I'm
going to read them is thesummary of hashtags mottos and
fun things that we saidthroughout our talk and then I'm
going to ask you what yourpersonal hashtag is. Okay, so
(33:16):
here we go. Hashtag explorehashtag no judgment, hashtag
love people, leadership,communicate with others. learn
from mistakes, give back. Not anearly person allowed to be
yourself. If you're not happy,get out opportunity. Can't be
afraid of hard work, have a planlife happens. Know who you are.
(33:40):
What am I going to do with mylife? What is your what's your
like? Go to everyday mantra youthink hashtag that keeps you
going?
Unknown (33:52):
I think it would be hashtag define yourself. That's
it. Hashtag define yourself.Because I think that pretty much
covers like, Who do you want tobe? You know, you wake up every
morning, define yourself? Do youwant to get up and get your
(34:14):
paperwork done? Or do you wantto get distracted and do
something else? Do you want toget up? And you know, feel sorry
for yourself? Because you're notwhere you want to be in life? Or
do you want to get up and worktowards a goal today that maybe
you know, you didn't think waspossible? You know, like define
yourself figure out like whensomeone says your name, what do
(34:34):
they want? What do you want themto think of what like you said
the word you just read off thepaper. I hope people think about
me when they say when they hearmy name. You know, I think
defining yourself as important.Well, let
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (34:46):
me tell you, you are a fabulous young
woman. I mean, I can't wait tosee where you go next. I can't
wait to try some TruffleParmesan truffle fries, but I
want and I say evil as well, butI Um, you know, it's the good
with the bad, right? Yes, it'sgood balance. That's another
hashtag. But I thank you forjoining us. Why don't you tell
(35:08):
everybody where they can followyou if they want to come and
visit your trucks and see someof your awesome like menu items
and where can they find you togo go hunt me down.
Unknown (35:19):
I usually post the weekly schedule on Instagram,
which is at reds are our 2022. Ialso have a website that you can
look for my email and stuff andjust shoot me an email. I have a
Facebook page as well. Theweekly schedule is posted on
there. It's called reds rollingrestaurant. One, two, I didn't
put three on there yet, so justone. That's all right. And then
(35:41):
my fruitful Instagram, it'sdifferent. It's at fruitful
truck and Instagram pages.Fruitful smoothies and asset you
bowls.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (35:50):
So exciting. I can't wait to see
what's next. I'm going to comeand visit you and have some
yummy samples of somedeliciousness. So I appreciate
you coming and sharing yourstory with us today. Megan,
Unknown (36:01):
thank you for having me. This is wonderful. Take
care.
Dr. Brooke Mailhiot (36:03):
Thanks. You've been
Jason Varga (36:04):
listening to the rcbc bareness podcast, which
highlights women in leadershipwhile encouraging listeners to
build their skills, connect withthe community and visualize the
opportunities available to womenin various professions. For more
information about this podcastor other podcasts available on
the rcbc Podcast Network, visitrcbc.edu/podcast And be sure to
subscribe to the rcbc barenesspodcast available on all
(36:26):
streaming platforms.
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