Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Rabicoff Lim.
Hi Ana, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was an independent corporate event organizer for 30 years when the pandemic killed that career, and I had to pivot like everyone else. I knew I wanted to continue being self employed and use all of my corporate event planning expertise, but I didn’t know what that would look like.
Although I am from Texas, I lived outside of Texas for many years and returned back when I was pregnant with my 1st son. We moved from Boston to Fort Worth to be closer to my parents and family. While sitting in my house in August 2020, I was reminiscing about when I lived in Boston. Every August, my friends and I would drive up the coast to Maine to enjoy sightseeing, the beach and eating lobster rolls…and I was wondering how I could get an authentic New England lobster roll in landlocked Benbrook, TX. We all know, somehow, Facebook can hear our thoughts, right? Well, as I was scrolling on my FB feed that day, the Cousin’s Maine Lobster food truck ad appeared. Lightbulb moment! I booked the Cousin’s food truck for my neighborhood and posted it on Nextdoor to invite my neighbors, so I could “selfishly” get a lobster roll! Almost 100 people came out to the food truck and raved about how much fun it was to be outside to see their neighbors. A few people had always wanted to try lobster, while others hadn’t had it in a while and thought I was a delicious treat. It was a huge success and many asked me to do it again. So, a few weeks later, I booked a “Taco Tuesday” food truck…and again, it was a hit! So, while I was still looking for my next “job”, I started to regularly book food trucks for my neighborhood. It turned out to be a wonderful distraction from the terrible pandemic…and everyone looked forward to the next Foodie experience I was bringing to the area. The Mayor of our community even called to congratulate me on a creative way of bringing our community together while helping the food trucks (ie: local small businesses on wheels) find more work. THIS was my next “gig”!
Organically, my business started to grow from there….I created a name and social media presence for my new business, SW Food Truck Gigs. Once we could go back to school, my son’s elementary school asked if I could book “Food Truck Friday” trucks for the teachers to help boost their moral. It worked, and soon the middle/high school across the street was jealous and requested “Food Truck Fridays” for their teachers, too. Soon, it got out to the other local schools and they contacted me for their school-wide events. Then, one teacher asked if I could book a burger truck for her husband’s 40th birthday party, and her attendees contacted me for their own events. I had discovered a small niche that assisted the public with an easier way to connect with the food trucks (and vice versa). It really took off when I started receiving referrals in different local mom or foodie groups on Facebook… and, suddenly, my business quickly expanded from my neighborhood to all of the DFW area!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting over is never easy, but it does bring a new sense of adventure and creativity. And, I am someone who can appreciate a good challenge. The pandemic in itself was pretty miserable, but along with it, I had lost my career/income, my marriage, and I was learning how to be a single mom to 2 boys (aged 11 and 6). To say the least, it was A LOT to juggle. Nevertheless, I think the one thing that remained a constant was that I have been self employed for a very long time and my boys grew up seeing me working from home. So, they understood what it meant when I asked them to go play in the other room so I could focus on a few work things. We are a Foodie family, so I would bring them with me when I wanted to meet a new food truck owner and try their food. In a way, my boys have grown up with my business and it’s just part of our family, too. LOL! And, now if they see a food truck at their school, they are the most popular kids on campus because they know the food truck owners.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My business was created in August 2020, during the Pandemic. What started as bringing a better variety of food options to my local community grew into assisting corporate clients, private events, schools, HOAs, etc with booking food trucks and organizing all logistics. I now partner with most food trucks (and caterers) in the DFW area.
Many people don’t know, but appreciate, that I bring my 30 years experience of organizing corporate events to every request I receive. Once I have all of the main details of the event, I am able to look at the location, the number of attendees, the demographics, the budget, etc to reach out to the number of food trucks that best fit that event. For example, there are so many taco trucks out there but every one of them is very different (street tacos up to high end tacos) and understanding the details to book the best truck is what makes a more successful event.
My utmost goal is for the food trucks that I book to be successful, because when they are successful, we are all successful! The food truck community is full of hard working individuals and families, who offer exceptional food on wheels. So, I do my best to education the public as to why they need to make a minimum to pay all of their expenses or why menu pricings have slowly increased. But at the same time, I am able to utilize my partnerships to negotiate a menu within a certain budget or request a truck to stay longer than their normal shift. Team work makes the dream work!
I have been self employed for a very long time and the one thing that the public craves more than anything is customer service. I learned customer service long ago, and it has worked well for me. Many people who contact me have had the responsibility of booking the food trucks for their event literally dumped on their overwhelming plate. I aim to keep it easy peasy for everyone. Once I have the details for the event, I literally do everything behind the scenes. I will research, book and organize all logistics for the event. One week out, I will reconfirm the booked food trucks. This way, should someone have to cancel (ie: mechanical issue) then it gives me time to find a replacement. I never want to leave someone without food. For my corporate clients that might require more than one or two trucks over several days (example- I have assisted with creating a “food truck park” for larger groups at the Hilton Anatole hotel), I will create a grid with all pertinent info on one page. This way, once they are onsite, all of the food truck info is easily retrieved.
I am most proud of creating this new business, SW Food Truck Gigs, out of necessity (and by accident). Over the past 5 years, it has been continuously growing organically and thriving, while bringing communities together and lifting up small businesses on wheels. But, the best part are the amazing partnerships and friendships that were born with the food truck owners and my clients. We have each others backs and support each other on a daily basis. Weekly, I receive referrals by both food truck owners and clients. I truly feel blessed.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
The best part of my job is hearing someone say “you are a lifesaver!” I hear it at least once or twice per week. Funny part is that I am not saving a life, I am just helping out with booking a food truck! LOL! But, in all honesty, those words mean so much to me because I know we are all leading busy lives between work, families, kid’s activities, etc and if I can assist someone in making their job alittle easier (so they can shine), then I have done my job well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.swfoodtruckgigs.com
Image Credits
Photos with white shirt and lei were taken by Lisa Muehe. Other photos are selfies.
