Back in the 'Burgh

There was some travel drama this past weekend: on my way down to Charlottesville on Thursday, the check engine light came on and I couldn’t figure out why, so I went back to Northern Virginia on Friday to get a different car. Then I drove to Pittsburgh, was there for 2 hours, then had to leave for Indiana. Luckily, other guys in my car were willing to drive so I didn’t have to take us all the way to Indiana. All the work was worth it, though, because the frisbee tournament was awesome! We went 5-1 and finished 3rd, which was definitely a step up from Denver. My goal this week was to ride this wave of success and start the next week off strong.

A lot of Monday was spent working on getting settled into my new house. I wrote the draft of the mass email l will be sending out later in the week and I feel good about how it looks. I then reviewed many of my previous blog posts and put then up on the website to prep for the email distribution, which will hopefully drive people to the site.

On Tuesday, I sent a few emails to some of my higher-up contacts in the City about Revival Chili to see how they could help my business; hopefully I hear back from them soon!

The coolest thing that happened was one of my housemates forwarded me an email she got about a chili contest. I immediately emailed the contact and he wanted to hop on a phone call just 30 minutes later. After talking with him, he offered me a lot more than just entrance into the chili contest. We decided to reconnect on Monday and discuss everything in more depth. I can't wait to see where that relationship goes!

Lastly, I’m supposed to have my first employee interviews tomorrow! I’m really, REALLY excited for that and I can’t wait to start interviewing. My contact at 068 has high opinions of some of the potential candidates, which was good to hear. I’m going do some research beforehand on best practices for interviewing ex-convicts to make sure I’m well-prepared.

Back to The States, Oh, and The Logo is Done!!!

I’m on the plane back from Scotland now and a lot has happened in the past two days. Obviously, as you can tell by the title, the logo is finished, which is fucking awesome. You can see the different versions below:  

It has changed a little since the last logo I posted, but I love the different versions. I received the final versions shortly after I wrote my last post; I wanted to get started right away on all the next steps so the next morning so I updated all of the social media accounts. I updated the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to try to reach the maximum number of people. I won’t be posting very often yet, but I wanted to get them updated ASAP so people can start following the company and get to know who we are. I will start posting more often when the hiring, catering and construction start. All of the social media links and the link to the website are at the bottom of each page; please follow and share with your friends!

I’m really pumped about how this process is continuing to move forward! I am planning on sending out the email blurb about the company out to all of my networks at the beginning of next week. To meet this timeline, I have been editing all of the blog posts so I can put them up on the site. I have also had some time to make an example schedule for one week of operation. I came out with a preliminary schedule that has seven employees each having 38 hours per week. The seven employees all work six days a week, but the shifts are six hours long (one eight hour shift to make up the last two hours) and it seems like a reasonable plan so far .

I started to work on the example balance sheet, profit and loss and cash flow statement, but was running into some difficulties since I have not confirmed all of my exact expenses yet. I emailed my favorite professor from UVA who runs his own restaurant in Charlottesville. He shared some of those statements from the restaurant with our class and they were extremely detailed, so I’m hoping he will send me some to work with. Also, he has an inventory system that he designed for his restaurant to help prevent employee theft. I emailed him a while back about that and have set up a demonstration meeting while I’ll be in Charlottesville. I’m pretty excited to see how it works because I think it could be very useful when determining my own system.

That’s all the updates for now. I’m driving down to Charlottesville tomorrow to have a surgery done on my cat (it’s a VERY long story), and then on Friday I’m driving back to Pittsburgh and then to Indiana; things are very hectic right now! I’m excited to be back in the States though, because it means I’m even closer to start serving chili out of the trailer!

Last Blog Before the Logo is Ready!

So I’m still in Scotland and it’s been a blast so far. Haven’t been on a family vacation like this in a while and it’s great spending time with them. Now that my sister and I are adults, we have (mostly) real conversations! For example, talking a lot about the truck but also the election, current social issues, race issues and more. Anyways, just wanted to give this quick update because hopefully, the website will be going up by the end of the week (fo' real this time). The only thing I have done while in Scotland is an hour long google hangout session with the logo designer and we really nailed down a lot of things. It was from midnight to 1 AM for me but it was totally worth it. Worked through a lot more than we would have if we kept just messaging back and forth. Now, I’m just waiting on the final versions of everything and then I should be good to go! That also means that I have to get all the blog posts ready (which is like 12 pages single spaced), so gotta get crackin’, happy Monday everyone!

A Small Reflection

It’s technically the third right now, but I’m on a plane to Scotland from Iceland and it’s 8:28AM in Iceland so I don’t really know what time it is. I’ve been up since 8AM EST on the 2nd and been running around like crazy since then. I was able to sleep a little on the plane to Iceland but I was not really able to sleep, so we will see how long I last. I’m trying to make it until the end of today.

I haven’t been able to do a lot since the last post but I wanted to take this time to reflect a little bit on my progress so far. What I have done since is email all the people working on the business with me to get progress updates. Everyone is still working hard while I’m gone and will have updates for me when I get back, which is great news. I also messaged my logo designer and he got back to me quickly with an idea for where the words will be around the logo. Hopefully, that will be finished by the time I get back from Scotland and I can finally put my website up. I’ve been really happy with his work but just wish he would move faster sometimes - although that’s the case for most of the people I’m working with, since it’s not their full-time job.

There are definitely times when I think I’m in a dream and there’s no way this is happening. Especially right now, when I’m doing all this traveling and to think right when I get back I’m going to be jumping right in. It’s kind of surreal, there is no way in hell that this is where I saw myself being a year ago or even six months ago; and definitely not at the beginning of college. I know I am super lucky to be where I am right now and could not be doing it without the belief and support of my main partner - 068. And also the belief and support of all the people around me. My family wants to do whatever they can to help, I know Venture for America will help me if I ask for it and all my friends want me to succeed. So, this is a big thanks to everyone for following me along this journey and for reading this far into the blog, it really means a lot to me to get the continuous support and excitement of friends and family.

I know there have already been times that I have been frustrated and it’s been awesome to have a great support system to talk things through. I can sometimes have a hard time figuring out how I really feel and what I want so having people to talk to it about definitely helps. And I know the small problems I’ve had are nothing compared to what’s to come and that’s actually something I’m looking forward to. I can’t wait for the ups and downs, the huge highs and the far down lows, the times when I’ll have to make hard decisions and everything in between. That’s what’s keeping me going, something I look forward to every day. I cannot fucking wait to be working 12 hours days on the truck and seeing the payoff from the work I put it. I can’t wait to spread my vision to everyone and show them what I’m trying to do. I really, REALLY can’t wait to find an 18 year-old that’s recently out of juvie and take him under my wing to show him the potential he has and what he can do. All of that is what I’m striving for. Showing people they can break the mold, don’t have to do what’s expected of them, that they can make anything possible. All they have to do is have an idea and act on it.

Wow, I just got super sentimental for the last two paragraphs and that’s not normal haha, it’s probably just the lack of sleep currently. Well, to sum it all up, I’m really fucking happy right now and every time I think about it, I just can’t believe where I am - it’s unreal. I’m so lucky to be in this situation and would not wish for anything different. As awesome as traveling the world sounded a couple months ago, I’m so happy I chose this path and can’t see where it takes me. That’s all for now, hope everyone is having a good week and happy hump day :)

From Denver to Scotland

As I alluded to in my last post, there was not a lot done over the weekend. I played ultimate and got to spend time with some awesome people, and overall it was a really great time, but not much progress was made. I asked my contact for the logo to text me, which he did, but I didn’t see it for a few days so I did not end up responding to him until Sunday morning. By that point, the only day we could meet up was today (Monday) and he doesn’t get back to me in time for that either.

With these delays, I wasn’t able to meet my goal of finishing the logo by the end of July. I was really happy with the logo we finally ended on, but I still need all the different versions so I can get keep moving forward. I’m going to message him back tomorrow morning to get an update.

One really great thing that did happen today was one of the guys at my partner company informed me we will be doing in-person interviews on Wednesday the 17th of August! It’s super exciting. He also let me know that there is a small catering event that I could do on the 26th, which is another piece of great news.

In all, we have got a lot of good things in the works--we mainly need to get the logo finalized, and then we will keep moving on the formation of the business! I’m leaving tomorrow for Scotland with my family and I’ll be gone for a week but, don’t worry, I will still be workin’/bloggin’!

Have a good week everyone!

Will I Get Anything Done in Denver…?

I just landed in Denver, here for the weekend for a frisbee tournament. I was planning on writing on the flight but I was up until like 2AM then had to get up at 6:30AM to make the flight so I obviously slept on the flight. Now I’m on the train riding into downtown since I’m staying with a friend there. I’m super fucking excited for this weekend, got a couple days to explore Denver then playing the highest level frisbee I’ve ever played. Anyways, enough about my life, I’ve pretty much not done anything the past couple days. I’ve been too busy moving all my shit, cleaning my old place and working on a side income project. 

After talking with the solar panel guy and my trailer designer on Monday, we decided we would not have the capacity to run all electric items. So I emailed the restaurant supply guy for the new cut sheets we needed for the propane items we wanted. He had an out of office response so I called them and they put me in touch with another guy that could help. He was super helpful and I sent him what I needed but he didn’t get back to me for the next two days. So I called again on Wednesday and got through to him. He asked me a few questions about the specifics then immediately sent me the cut sheets I wanted. This was right as I was about to leave for frisbee practice so it wasn't until I got back that I was able to put together a pdf for my designer. It was of all the exact pieces of equipment I wanted and I sent it over to him around 11pm. I’ll check in with him later today. 

Also, my logo guy actually lives in Denver which is pretty convenient. I probably should have let him know I was coming earlier but I just messaged him on Facebook. Hopefully he texts me and we can meet up and just knock out the logo so I can get everything up and running! Not sure how much I’ll get done in the next couple days (besides logo) so I probably won’t be posting until next week, hope everyone has a great weekend!

First Version Of The Final Logo!

I really need to get better at this… I don’t really remember what has happened in the past week. That’s probably because not a lot has but I got a lot of shit going on right now and don’t have time to think about it. The main reason I actually did not write in the past week is because my computer charger stopped working. So I started just using my phone for everything while I waited for my new charger to get here. So I’m gonna go with that as the real excuse as to why I haven’t written in a week.

Anyways, not a whole lot has happened, the main thing is the logo is finished (almost)!! Super excitingand you can see it below :)

I’m really happy with it and now just waiting on a few different layouts/fonts for the words to decide what I like the best! That was definitely the biggest thing that happened, I’ve been getting ready for my move so spent a whole day organizing/packing. And then I did a lot of drinking this weekend and there’s definitely some stories from that but unfortunately, this is not the place for those… haha.

I went to a BBQ on Friday with the guys from 068 which was a lot of fun. I brought my chili for them to try and they fucking loved it. I also got to know some of the ex-con workers, which was super beneficial. The final design of the truck hasn’t been finished yet because the designer and I are waiting for our solar panel guy to respond. We need his input for how much power can be generated from the panels to see if all equipment can be electric. So, today I got his number from my previous intern and gave him a call. We talked for about 20 minutes and he was great. He answered all my questions and gave me a much better idea of the equipment we should get for the truck. I then immediately called my designer, we discussed a little bit and it sounds like everything is on track and moving forward! It’s super exciting and I’m hoping to have put enough stuff in place so that even though I’ll be gone for two weeks, a lot of shit can still get done.

Alright, that’s pretty much all the time I have for now. I have a few planes rides in the next week so I’ll have some more time then to think, reflect and write more. Hopefully the logos will be completely done by the end of the week and I can actually make my website and post all these! Hope everyone has a good Monday :)

Why Is The Veggie Chili So Good?!

Pretty much nothing happened over the weekend, I thought about some of the stuff I can do but I’m definitely waiting on people now, for the most part. My logo guy has still not responded to my feedback so I followed up with him today and hopefully he will respond soon. I sent him my rough sketch of an idea for a logo (below) and we will see what he does with it. I really, REALLY wanna get the logo because then I can throw the website up and that means I can put this up! I’m super excited to put this up so I can email every single person I know and they can follow along with me on this journey :) 

Also, I got all the specs on the kitchen equipment from the supply company yesterday so that was good. My designer is going to start working on the actual design by going off of the general sketch I gave him for the trailer. Also, I emailed my solar panel guy to start getting him in the loop because we are going to need a lot of power for the truck. The designer then sent him the specs so he can know the payload we need to power the truck and see what he can do for the panels. Hopefully, the final design will be done by the end of this week and then construction can start fairly soon!

Lastly, the main thing I’ve done this week was make the first version of the veggie chili. I officially nailed down the recipe yesterday and bought all the ingredients. This morning was mostly chopping veggies and the rest of the day making it. It’s been simmering for about 3 hours and it is actually much better than expected. I made a sweet and a spicy version and I’m serving it to some friends tonight so we will see what their feedback is! It’s actually much closer to the final than I expected the first batch to be. It might actually be the final recipe, depending on feedback, which is super exciting! Although I don’t always like getting feedback from friends because it’s almost always positive. I’m hoping to make some more chili later this week but I also have to pack up most of the house since I’m moving out this weekend. We will see what I have time to do. And I’m leaving the city for 2 weeks next Wednesday so I don’t need a whole lot of chili right now. Anyways, I’ll see what I can do, I plan on making a large batch with a decent amount of iterations on spices fairly soon though so I can set the final recipe for the meat chilis!

I’m feeling really good this week and am really excited for moving into my new house then going on my trip. I’m going to Denver, Scotland then Indiana on 3 separate trips. Denver and Indiana are for frisbee tournaments and Scotland is with the family. The timing worked out pretty well so that none over lapped but it’s still going to be really hectic. But then I’ll be back and start going ham on the business! Can’t fucking wait :D.