Before purchasing my own truck as I mentioned previously I rented a food truck from someone I found on Craigslist. A few weeks into renting the truck the generator got stolen. I was then forced to rent a generator from Home Depot until I could afford a replacement. Shortly after that experience ,the food truck started having issues , from major oil leaks, to having multiple mechanical breakdowns. I would repeatedly take it to the mechanic just to keep the business afloat, which was quite stressful. One day , I told the owner he would need to service it. I think this was about the 5th time having to deal with major mechanical issues in less than 6 months . I remember him sending another mechanic’s contact for me to take the truck because he felt the mechanic who had done the previous repairs was perhaps not addressing all the issues at once. However, I told him he had to take care of it this time because I was already exhausted. He picked up the truck to get it fixed but on his way back to the commissary kitchen, the food truck caught on fire on the freeway. He called me and sent me pictures as this was happening. I was shocked, confused and slightly at peace at the same time. The reason I say at peace is because I wasn’t the one driving it at the time of the incident and everyone was safe . Since it was a rental , the responsibility was on the owner even though I lost some of my personal belongings on the truck , I was still ok. I switched back to using a tent for events and started saving towards building my own truck. In the process of doing that , COVID happened & it was just tempting to give up but I kept going. Long story short , after 3 years of so much chaos and uncertainties, I have my own food truck, custom built to my needs.

I studied mass communication & advertising at Cal State East Bay and I was into event and artist management before fully going into the food industry.

I was working at my brother’s club downtown Oakland( Air lounge ) as an event coordinator circa 2006 and we had reggae night every Thursday. I would order finger food and just resell it with very minimal need to turn a profit. There were some people who just needed food after consuming alcohol & this was the only reason I began selling. I always enjoyed cooking for family and friends but I never really explored having a food business of my own, but one day I decided to sell my own food because I have undeniable culinary skills. I enjoyed feeding people with a uniquely curated set of food menu and I continued until the Air Lounge closed its doors in 2014 when the owners of the building declined to renew the lease.

I traveled back home to Nigeria that year, went on tour in Europe with one the artist I was working with “Nneka”and then returned to the Bay Area in 2016, which coincided with when I started cooking again. My focus was doing catering & pop ups at events with my canopy . Eventually , I decided to rent a food truck , found someone on Craigslist , he answered some of my questions, agreed to pay him monthly and Jollof Kitchen Food Truck was born.

My intent was to feed people quality food and that passion still resonates today. My culinary endeavor started at the smallest scale possible, literally with a few pots, pans and carefully curated ingredients. I tested various ideas out and learnt quickly all the ways not to run a business. Bootstrapping has been my way of scaling the system.