Former IT Analyst Says, "Pimp My Food Truck"

ST. LOUIS - Oct. 20, 2013 - PRLog -- A Little About Me:
My name is Vinnis. Until recently, I had been employed as an I.T. analyst. I particularly enjoyed the challenges and rewards of this career that I spent fifteen years cultivating. I was making decent money and was able to provide a comfortable life for myself and my family. However, the past several years have been very difficult. Due to the mass migration of I.T. jobs to countries like India and Indonesia, it has become increasingly difficult to acquire a job in my field of expertise. This phenomenon, coupled with the influx of foreign guest workers to the U.S., has made my pursuit of employment a labor of futility. In 2005, I was working for a company that off-shored my entire department. I found myself out of work for the first time in my professional career. It was not until 2008 that I found another, albeit temporary, IT job.

Like hundreds of thousands of American I.T. workers, I have had to pursue other means of supporting my family. I’m a single father who’s raising two teenage girls and welfare, food stamps and odd jobs were, unfortunately, my limited options. The MBA Curse disqualified me as being over-qualified for every job I pursued outside my field!

I found myself at times, unable to adequately provide for my two daughters. For the first time as a parent, I was unable to buy Christmas presents for my daughters. I have to admit, that was one of the darkest periods of my life.

My Babies and Popsicles
One day the ice cream truck came down our street, and I was unable to afford a frozen treat for my daughters on a hot summer day. How do you tell your babies that they can’t have a Popsicle from the ice-cream truck? A dollar Popsicle was out of my reach!  How could this be? I had graduated from college with an advanced degree. This is not how it’s supposed to be in America. Wasn’t the formula for the American Dream work hard, study hard, and stay out of trouble?  I did all of these things, but my life was a nightmare! I felt like I was living in the Twilight Zone!  I knew that my children didn’t understand our situation; they should not have been denied the quintessential American summertime treat, an ice cream cone. When I was growing up, my sister’s and I loved buying popsicles from the ice-cream truck.

Needless to say, I was devastated. The next day, I went to the local ice cream truck franchise and asked for a job. They hired me on the spot. They agreed to lease me a truck full of frozen novelties. Now I was able to bring home cash every day, and my daughters had their pick of any ice-cream bar on the menu!

Hip-Hop Bomb Pop
I soon realized that every day, I was turning in lots of cash to the owner of the franchise. I would make $300, $500 and some days, even $600 dollars.  My cut was 32% less fees. This made me wonder just how much the company was profiting if they could afford to pay me 32%.  A month later, I went to an auction and purchased a large van with the money I had saved from my job and a small investment from my mother. My vision was to create a more iconic experience. I wasn’t satisfied to be just another independent ice-cream truck, my vision was to change the game and make it mine. I wasn’t interested in following the tried and true standards; I wanted to set my own standards!

After I acquired the van, I painted it in a brick wall motif. Each customer was allowed to sign their name on one of the bricks. This concept went over big with my customers.  Kids of all ages got a kick out of writing their name on The Wall!

I expanded my menu to include funnel cakes, turkey legs, foot long polish sausage sandwiches, pickles, chips and candy. I was operating a food truck way before the craze began.  I ran my own small business from the spring of 2005 until the fall of 2008.

The St. Louis Wall of Fame Experience – Why we need your help
After working another  IT position from  2008 - 2010, once again I find myself not unemployed but none the less, under-employed . Realizing that with the current economic situation, I still needed to have another stream of income to supplement my current job and really take control of my destiny.

I recently purchased a large shuttle bus that I plan to convert into a food truck. My goal is to brand my food truck in the hearts and minds of customers as a unique dining experience. I want my brand to reflect my desire to be a positive role model for people like myself, who have been effected by unemployment or underemployment.  Poverty does have a way of re-enforcing itself. However, “hope springs eternal”, instead of giving up and allowing the situation to get the best of us, I want to show others how to step out in faith and start their own small business.

Having served as an assistant pastor for ten years, and also a youth and community advocate, when I created Hip-Hop Bomb Pop it became not only an actualization of my dream, but also an inspiration to others.

My goal is to use The St. Louis Wall of Fame Food Truck as an instrument to deposit inspiration, hope and joy in the lives of so many people in my community.  To start my business again requires capital to purchase the equipment and supplies that I need. With your help, I will be in a position to reach more communities, and provide a message of hope, faith and goodwill.

Please consider being one of my sponsors.  Feel free to contact me anytime via phone (314-884-0217) or email me at vinnist@stlwof.com. I’m also asking that you please forward this email to friends and family members. The benefits of being a sponsor to my project are listed below.