Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Garcia.
Hi Jesse, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It started in 2018; at this time, I was going to the University of North Texas, majoring in Computer Engineering with a minor in African American Studies. I was working at LA Fitness and from time-to-time help Brandon Waller of Bam’s Vegan down at the Dallas Farmers Market. This began my journey as a vegan chef. At this point, I was just a year into my vegan lifestyle, which I undertook for health purposes as I was 260 lbs and on the tipping block of being diagnosed with high blood pressure. I always knew how to cook because my mama wanted me to be able to take care of myself and not have to depend on a woman to do it for me, but once I Teamed up with Bam however, my cooking skills went to the next level. After a few times helping him out he offered me an opportunity to help him build the business, and from there we started cooking it up. With me having to commute back and worth to Denton I eventually dropped out to become a full-time entrepreneur. This would eventually lead me to creating my very own vegan cheese sauce called The Truth Sauce as well as starting my own meal prep service/catering service under the name of The Truth Cooking. I still cook with Bam down at Bam’s Vegan Smoothie & Wraps in Irving, Texas, and currently host a podcast called Growth: Health and Wellness. Currently, I Have few things coming this year, including a clothing line and non-profit foundation aimed at providing tools and resources for the youth and parents, including financial literacy, entrepreneur opportunities, healthy food, and resources for STEM program students.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As any entrepreneur can tell you, it’s definitely bumps and humps in the road. I started with very little knowledge in business, so starting one was an obstacle within itself. Figuring out how to file for business, trademark, filing taxes, and building business credit was headache within itself cause its so many ways to go about it. Then covid happened, and we all know the trouble that brought. People were scared and shelter in place for a couple months leading to a decrease in business. Getting supplies was a bit of a hassle as well as dealing with the rising cost of food. Figuring out how to market and build out a brand was especially challenging. How I always compare the ups and downs of business though is like stock. You can look at the 1-minute, 5-minute, 1-hour, day, and week charts and see a downward slope but when you look at the year and 5-year charts how does it look. Is it still downwards, or have you always been going up? With business, you have to accept the ups and downs as they come. Prepare yourself for down times when you’re doing well and figure out how to adapt and evolve when you’re doing bad.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a chef, entrepreneur, author, podcast host, and soon-to-be clothing designer and community organizer. Right now, I specialize in vegan cuisine and baking. I’m most known for my vegan cheese sauce called The Truth Sauce. I’m most proud of the continued progression I have made on spreading health and wellness awareness from supplying great food made from fruit and veggies to Information on mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. What sets me apart from others is my commitment and passion to provide the best food possible for people to enjoy. I care about what I do, and I don’t let the money interfere with that. Sometimes I feel people just do stuff cause of trends and try to make a few bucks but when you care about what you do and your committed to the progress and work it shows in the product you put out.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
That even though I may smile a lot and are super positive about everything, I too go through my own things behind the scenes. I highlight this because I feel we paint a beautiful picture without looking at the hidden layers. It’s been plenty of times I wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits. As I said previously, this business comes with its ups and downs. Through it all though, I stay focused. I make sure to get my mental health breaks in, and I get my rest when needed. We have a bad habit of promoting grinding as something you have to lose sleep behind, not eat, and sacrifice so many other things but I say why do all that just to get to whatever you classify as success just to have health issues and no memories of anything other than work. The biggest way I look at it as is a marathon; that’s all it is. Isn’t about how fast you get to where you wanna be but how you put yourself in the right position to enjoy it and capitalize off of it. Like Nipsey Hustle said, “Pace yourself, it’s all about your breathing” these are some of the words I live by. Don’t get it twisted though, I definitely advocate working hard but just know when you need your breaks because if you leave it up to your body to tell you it’s gonna be rude about it and it won’t be an enjoyable experience.
Pricing:
- $12 for 16oz Truth Sauce Jars
- $30-70 for custom cakes
- Meal prep meals ranging from $12-20
- $28 for 1 Baker dozen cookies
- Ebooks ranging from $5-10
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thetruthsauce.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessethetruth7/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjb7SUUZ2pvfrhX3fQDwXuQ
- Other: https://growthhealthandwellnesspodcast.buzzsprout.com
Image Credits
Chris Cuevas
