By Jessica Ziegler, Co-creator of Science of Parenthood
In order to fulfill her son’s long-held dream of operating a food truck, 42-year-old Donna Barry from Douglas County, Colorado recently gave up her six-figure salary as a Marketing Executive to devote herself full time to making that dream come true. Exclusively serving fruit smoothies, FruitNinjaMasterSlam rolled into business this summer in a restyled Mr. Chips delivery van emblazoned with colorful, exploding fruits and Samurai swords.
“I thought it was a pretty good idea,” Barry said. “Food trucks are really hot right now, and he’s been trying to talk me into this for months. All of his friends are dropping out of Tae Kwon Do to open food trucks.”
The food truck business trend has been growing aggressively across the U.S. for the past five years. According to recent surveys, food-truck-based plans are listed as the number one reason high school seniors are putting off college, rising sharply to outrank taking a year abroad to “figure shit out.” The trend has begun to skew even younger, as evidenced by the rash of food truck businesses masterminded by the under-13 set sweeping this small suburban community.
Barry admits she got caught up her son’s excitement. “He was really into it, always coming up with different fruit combinations. We bought so much fruit! Honestly, I was just happy he was talking about something other than Minecraft.”
Barry tapped into her 401k to finance her son’s idea. “We got a really good deal on a truck that another mom in my book club was selling. We painted over the cupcake motif and, boom, we were in business!”
Barry realizes it was a big leap to go from a high-paying job to a food-truck entrepreneur, but felt her fifteen years as a Marketing Director would provide her with the necessary skills to transition into the new role. “I was ready for a change, and when you see all the other moms doing it—supporting their kid’s dreams—it’s hard to say no.”
“I didn’t want to be the only mom on the soccer field without a food truck,” Barry admits.
Barry has faced some unexpected challenges on the road to food-truck superstardom. “I really thought my son would be more involved. After the first hour he just wanted to go watch Youtube videos.”
“I dunno,” shrugged Barry’s son when asked what he thought the future might hold for FruitNinjaMasterSlam, “I’m kind of bored of it.”
Wiping strawberry puree from her forehead while scanning the parking lot for her next customer, Barry agrees it hasn’t been easy. Long hours with little help have made it hard to find success in the competitive food truck world.
“I want him to follow his bliss and all that, but I think I’ve made a horrible mistake,” said Barry. “I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do with all these mangoes?”
*****
About the Author
Jessica Ziegler is Science of Parenthood‘s co-creator, illustrator and contributing writer. Her writing and illustration have been published on The Huffington Post, BonBonBreak.com and InThePowderRoom.com. In 2015 she was named a Blogher Humor Voice of the Year. Her books include the highly acclaimed The Big Book of Parenting Tweets and The Bigger Book of Parenting Tweets and the upcoming Science Of Parenthood: Thoroughly Unscientific Explanations for Utterly Baffling Parenting Situations (Nov 2015) from She Writes Press.