We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alexis Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexis, thanks for joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Alexis ended her career in the dental industry in 2020 after making a difficult decision between pursuing her dreams as an entrepreneur or financial stability during one of the most uncertain times in history, the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, she knew something was missing in the restaurant industry that seemed so familiar but so far fetch when dining out. After many trips back home to Baton Rouge, Alexis knew she had to get her family’s recipes and start practicing. She bought a purple notebook, titled it Baton Roux, and mastered each recipe after a couple years of practicing. During that time, she offered taste samples to coworkers and friends during special celebrations in hopes of perfecting each recipe and receiving feedback. In 2019, Baton Roux trailer was purchased and by 2020 Baton Roux was on the road! Things didn’t go as planned but Alexis never gave up! She continued to find ways to get Baton Roux on the road! She created safe pick-up options, traveled directly to customers, and offered drop-off catering. After eight months business picked up tremendously and has been very busy since. Alexis is proud to serve Tampa Bay with amazing cuisines with history and tradition.

Alexis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Since 2020, Alexis has dedicated her work ethic to building the food truck brand Baton Roux. Prior to Baton Roux she worked as a dental assistant specializing in periodontics and orthodontics for over 4 years while studying dental hygiene. At the age of 15, she started her first job making pizzas from scratch and continued her position through high school at the age of 19 years old.

Prior to 2020, she knew something was missing in the restaurant industry that seemed so familiar but so far fetch when dining out. After many trips back home to Baton Rouge, Alexis knew she had to get her family’s recipes and start practicing. She bought a purple notebook, titled it Baton Roux, and mastered each recipe after a couple years of practicing. During that time, she offered taste samples to coworkers and friends during special celebrations in hopes of perfecting each recipe. In 2019, Baton Roux trailer was purchased and by 2020 Baton Roux was on the road! Things didn’t go as planned but Alexis never gave up! She continued to find ways to get Baton Roux on the road! She created safe pick-up options, traveled directly to customers, and offered drop-off catering. After eight months business picked up tremendously and has been very busy since. Alexis is proud to serve Tampa Bay with amazing cuisines with history and tradition.

Alexis is responsible for all food truck operations including scheduling, traveling to and from events/caterings, vehicle maintenance, inventory management, prepping and cooking, and customer service. Alexis also handles accounting and marketing aspects of the business.

Currently Baton Roux is named the #1 Cajun restaurant in Tampa Bay by Yelp, has been featured on three local news channels as one of the favorite food trucks in the Tampa Bay area, and has been highlighted as top small businesses in Tampa to support.

Baton Roux’s goal is to expand the dessert menu into a brick-and-mortar concept. This concept will offer authentic, made from scratch Louisiana beignets early mornings through late nights. Within the next few years, additional concepts will be introduced with wholesale and franchise opportunities.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Since the 2020 pandemic, I’ve learned an important lesson to keep striving for your purpose! Each path is connected to a purpose. Never give up because there’s a light at the end of the tunnel!

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Marketing. social media, text messaging service, and always keep all info current.      

Contact Info:

• Website: https://batonrouxfood.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Batonroux/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatonRouxFoodTruck/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/baton-roux-tampa-4
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@batonroux

Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/abigail_joy_photography/ https://www.instagram.com/pscostudios/