We caught up with the brilliant and insightful David Rivera a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, David thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?
The Gig was given to us my a guy i know. It was our first gig.
I was told it would be 300 people. being cocky as I am i took on the Job.
It was Brisket, Pulled pork, Mashed Potatoes, abd Baked beans.
lets just say it was a adventure. Never mixed potatoes with a drill before in a 5 gallon bucket.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Well, I have been cooking BBQ since i was young with my Dad, he lit the fire.
So i had a few cook jobs and i still did not like the food. I mean if you don’t like the food how can you expect anyone else to like it? So a few years past and i just decided to start smoking food because i was tired of tasteless BBQ i like flavor!
So i had BBQ party’s at my house I invited friends over we had BBQ food i just asked for honest feedback.
Next thing you know started from 1 smoker to 21 don’t know how that happened.
and between then and now started selling my BBQ to the public off a 16ft flat bed trailer here in Arizona with 5 BBqs on there. In the Arizona heat we still went out at 120 degrees it was a challenge. So we did that and a bunch of catering and we saw a need for it and a great response from the public. So i upgraded to a 21ft Food truck. that was challenging, so 3 trucks later I learned i needed a Bigger truck to pull it so I got one. We won a few Awards and we still cooking today!
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Well actually I had a handyman and landscaping business i had up to 5 guys working for me and 1 girl to clean the houses once we make a mess. But i was wondering why my right shoulder kept hurting so sucked it up went to the Dr.
and he said my Rotator Cuff is Almost gone. So i was like options? he said surgery, i was like ok great but he said cant lift 50lbs for 6 months and need 1 yr of rehab and lose 20-30% mobility. Ouch So i was like anything else the Dr. looked at me and said QUIT! So i started Cooking.
Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?
Yes I am also a DJ So we Offer Catering and Dj services, I have a buddy who is a Photographer so we put together packages. Also i still do handman services.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://honeypawsbbq.godaddysites.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honeypawsbbq/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HoneyPawsbbq
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/honey-paws-bbq-bullhead-city
