Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Green.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I made the decision to transition to Dallas on December 30th,2017.Coming from East St Louis, Illinois leaving behind 3 children on pure faith alone to build something that would surpass my life span and bring a special niche to the world through feed. Coming here with only $50 in my pocket and a 1989 Ford E250 box truck that I’d built by hand I knew that something was here for me and as an entrepreneur. After coming here and sleeping on a friend’s couch after a few months I found myself homeless and sleeping in my food truck through many cold/hot Texas summer nights. I can remember buying Cutter candles from Walmart to keep the mosquitoes away but I pressed on. I remember being so broke that I had to penny-pinch and buy small increments of food from Aldi in order to serve my customers, make a small profit, and send money back for my children to survive. Many nights I had to shower and sleep inside of Planet Fitness family bathroom but being 10 hours away from everything I knew giving up was never an option. Moving here as a felon at the time I wasn’t able to get a normal apartment but God blessed a second chance apartment to open up for me in Grand Prairie in which I was so grateful over that! After the pandemic hit food shortages begin to limit what I was able to do with my old brand so one day in my small apartment I formulated “Funneled Through”. Taking the dessert item from my former food truck, it was a less overhead approach that served a niche specifically for Texas. I knew that Funnel Cakes were an emotional American favorite that would tug on the heart of adults, children, and senior citizens alike simply due to the memories that conjure up over the deep-fried treats that we produce in a gourmet fashion. I sold my old food truck in order to make ends meet through the pandemic and bought a $40 tent from Academy Sports & began the simple overhead brand “Funneled Through”. After 5 months of serving through HOA & Apartments, I was able to scale up to my own branded tent with vibrant pictures of the funnel cakes all over and our logo. It attracted more and more clients on a daily basis. Being raised by a school teacher as a mother, and an OSHA expert/master carpenter as a father I had the master of budgeting, investing and stretching already engraved in my DNA. So, the growth came fast and strategically. Within the next 5 months we scaled up to our first trailer henceforth this very moment!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been far from easy. Building a brand from scratch especially as a pop-up where there are so many city restrictions as far as health departments & inspections was a task to say the least. Also operating a business as a long distant parent that was smack dab in the middle of transition & trying to make new substantial relationships is a balancing act of its own that only people with greatness inside of them an accomplish. I never forgot the days sleeping in the food truck, I never forgot the reason why I started. Depression was never an answer, and giving up was never an option I knew for a fact that I had came to Dallas on a strict mission to become the greatest entrepreneur that I could possibly be that would produce fruits for generations to come
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Funneled Through is a franchised food truck brand that specializes in bringing a seasonal product to Texans on a daily basis. The biggest cornerstone & punchline of this brand is that every item on our menu (even down to the Flavorburst Soft Serve) is NON-GMO, Keto Friendly, & Dairy Free. We are set apart from most business models of this caliber simply because of our service times & gourmet food art approach to an American favorite. It takes all of 30-60 seconds to produce our cakes & have it into the customers’ hands!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
The biggest risk I’ve taken was honestly moving here to Dallas.10 hours away from everything I’d ever known on nothing but faith and a dream to bring generational wealth to my children and build a machine that would continue to bring value to the world years after I’m here on this earth
Pricing:
- Small Funnel $8
- Large Funnel $10
- Cheesecake Funnel $14
- Peach Cobbler Funnel $12
- Flavorburst Soft Serve (Peach,Chocolate, Banana Ripple, Butter Pecan, Birthday Cake, Strawberry, Pina Colada, Vanilla) $5 (7oz) Cone Or Cup
Contact Info:
- Email: funneledthroughbookings@gmail.com
- Website: funneledthrough.shop
- Instagram: @funneledthrough
- Facebook: Funneled Through
