We were lucky to catch up with Dominic Maestas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dominic, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think it takes a lot of factors to be successful and I believe it is often underestimated how hard achieving success can be. To become successful in something means you must do what most other people are not willing to do. One of my favorite quotes is “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t” It is a constant reminder to me that if I want the outcomes of success then I must be willing to do what 99% of other people are not willing to do. As mentioned above success takes several factors, however below are some of the most important in my opinion.

Mindset-If you believe you can or believe you cannot, you’re probably right either way. How can you achieve something when deep down you don’t even believe you can, the first step is accepting that it is possible. However it is not going to be easy, you are going to get your ass kicked often when chasing success, it is important you have the correct mindset towards things, especially when they are not going your way. My mom would always tell me that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react. I practice stillness in my highest and lowest moments, because things can change instantly.

Discipline-This is a key factor when chasing success of any form. You must do the things needed to move you closer to your goal regardless of motivation. You are not always going to be motivated to goto the gym, but if you show up everyday for a consistent enough period of time, you will get results. Your Habits form your future.

Integrity-This is a big one for me, reputation is huge personally and in business. With social media and various other platforms spreading information rapidly, it is important that you do the right thing always, even if that means it is going to cost you money. Taking temporary shortcuts will only cause strain in the future and is a good way to ensure your business won’t be around long.

Sacrifice-The more you are willing to commit to success the more likely you are to achieve it, however that means cutting off things that draw you away from it. I have had to sacrifice time with my family, friends, personal hobbies, etc. You are not going to have balance in your life while pursuing success and it is not easy, if it was, everyone would be doing it.

Delayed Gratification-Success does not happen overnight, it takes months, years, even decades of pursuing a goal. You won’t see results right away and you have to be okay giving your everything and seeing little results, understanding that time is a massive factor and how things can compound will allow you to practice aggressive patience.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Dominic Maestas, I was born and raised in Albuquerque, NM. I have always been into business and entrepreneurship, At a young age a learned the art of selling things. Starting at 12 years old, My Dad would take me to the flea market every weekend and I would buy/negotiate for something and then turn around and sell it on craigslist. I eventually started my first business at 15 years old which was a lawn care business “Dom’s Lawn Care” where I would go around the neighborhood cutting my neighbors lawns. By the age of 16 years old, I had saved up enough money to buy a car. I used the skills I learned at the flea market to negotiate a low price and I would clean the car up, take some high quality pictures and post it in craigslist for a profit. I am a huge car enthusiast so this was one of the coolest jobs for me, by the time I graduated High School, I had bought and sold about 50 cars. I used the money I had earned from this to buy my first rental property on a Real Estate Contract at 18 years old. My story to this point seems pretty seamless however there were constant hurdles and struggles from cars breaking down on the side of the road while test driving them with potential buyers to countless other failed businesses in between.

After I graduated High School, I went to a community college, I knew this was not the path for me since all I could think about was how much money I could be making if I wasn’t sitting in a classroom for several hours a day. I decided to drop out after my first year and I was offered a job doing IT sales around the same time. I jumped in to this role and began to succeed as an Account Executive. I once again felt this was not the right path for me as It was hard for me to work for someone else. When I told my associates I was leaving a near six figure job to essentially start an Ice Cream Truck, A lot of them (understandably) couldn’t believe it and laughed at me. While it was a tough choice, it was a necessary one, I had a vision to grow this company and give it everything I could.

Pop Pop’s Italian Ice was founded in 1997 and had a single retail shop for many years, however in 2018 they were forced to close the store. My two Business partners (Ty & Ric Martinelli) and I, decided to take over the struggling business, however we turned it in to a mobile food trailer instead of a retail store. This made all the difference and allowed us to go directly to the customers, with this new business model we were able to scale the business to 8 mobile trucks, a retail store, and several wholesale customers. We have been very blessed however we worked very hard to get here and know we will have to continue that hard work to achieve the growth plans we have for the future. While our mobile units still serve the same delicious Italian ice that was served in 1997, we also have partnered with a variety of local companies to offer Beef Jerky, Popcorn, Freeze Dried Candy and our store offers exotic snacks that are imported from around the world.

Our company attends thousands of events every year ranging from school events, sports events, weddings, birthday parties, corporate appreciation, grand opening, movie sets, and so much more. We believe in giving back to the community and donate a percentage of our sales to various organizations along with sponsoring athletes and sports teams. I am so grateful for the team that has developed at Pop Pop’s in a very high turn over industry, we have been able to develop an inviting and fun culture which has resulted in longevity through our employees. While I feel like we are still just starting out and have a long way to go, I am beyond proud of our team and I am very excited to see what the future holds for us.

Any advice for managing a team?

My advice for managing a team is to trust your employees and if you don’t trust them, they should not be on your team. No one likes to be micromanaged and I have found the more trust you give your employees (with guidance) the better they will perform. Allowing your employees to make mistakes and learn lessons instead of being upset with them every time something goes wrong, encourages honesty and creativity.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think what helped build our reputation in the market is consistency. We strive to constantly provide the top notch product and service, across our 8 trucks and retail store, you can expect the same great experience every time. All of our trucks are uniform inside and out. We keep our word and have never missed an event out of the thousands of events we have committed to. Also our staff is amazing and they are our number one priority, we understand that if we take care of them, the rest of the business will take care of its self because if they’re in a good mood and enjoy their job, that will reflect on the customer.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.poppopsice.com
• Instagram: poppops_italianice
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poppopsitalianice/
• Other: Personal Instagram: dominicmaestas

Image Credits

Pop Pop’s Italian ice