We recently connected with Leah Wafful and have shared our conversation below.

Leah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I really noticed a need in my community for dessert/breakfast food trucks. I knew also wanted my food truck to be unique not your typical food truck. Something that was instagram able and chic that made people want to book us by just looking at it regardless of what we offered inside of it! However, I also wanted to be unique it what we were offering. My last name is “Wafful”so it was a no brainer that I need to do waffles but not your typical waffles, liege waffles. Also, in Iowa we like our food on sticks, so I knew that was absolutely going to happen. I’ve created a very well known brand across central Iowa. While we mainly focus on private events we occasionally throughout the year will do a few pop ups where we are open to the public to come try us out!

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.

I’ve been an entrepreneur going on 8 years. I started back in 2016 a custom airbrush tanning business “Bronze515.” After covid in the Fall of 2020 I really wanted more. I wanted something completely different than what I was doing. I kept seeing these cute horse trailers people were converting into mobile bars and I thought, I could do that. Instead though let’s not make it a bar but let’s make it a mobile waffle bar and serve dough based liege waffles out of it that are on a stick. My last name is also “wafful’ so it was a very easy “yes.” I found a 1980 horse trailer in Nebraska City, Nebraska and we drove 4 hours one way to pick it up. I had a friend of mine (Ryan Ballman, Red Maple Renovations) convert it into a dream of mine. I knew instantly that my idea would be a hit. We had our first paid event in August of 2021 and operate seasonally late spring-end of October with the trailer. Iowa winter are harsh and the trailer has no heat so while I would love to operate year round, it makes the most sense to just have it out during those months. We focus specifically on private/pre-paid events. A lot of graduation parties, corporate events, weddings, bridal showers, etc. Our business model is very different than what you would see out of a typical food truck. I wanted to be strategic in how we operated. I know a lot of food trucks go to farmers markets, art festivals, etc but those are a guessing game and I think you can either win big or lose when you go to those and I didn’t want to lose. Waffles & Whip is also a side hustle to my full-time job of own a custom airbrush tanning salon. I think I would probably take more events and do more if I didn’t have another business. Waffles was intended to be something I could do on the weekends with friends and family helping out. Our horse trailer is tiny. About 4 feet to move around! We have a 100 pound waffle iron imported from Belgium that we use that makes 4 waffles at a time. We keep our private events to less than 200 usually but have said yes this upcoming year a little bigger events now that we have two waffles irons!

I believe we have created something extremely unique for our area. It’s instagramable people want it for their events because of how unique it is. Most people have never tasted a fresh liege waffle and we provide just that. Our waffles are named cute/funny names and we provide toppings like Nutella, strawberries, peanut butter, Carmel, cheesecake, etc. When you hire us you get more than just the trailer. You get something your guests won’t forget.

I had never worked in the food industry minus a brief stint at an ice cream store when I was 16. I quit because I couldn’t make an XL twist cone and I thought that was it for me. I will never work in the food industry ever again. Fast forward 20 years and I have a successful little side hustle that serves waffles. It was a learning curve when it came to knowing my states rules and regulations and permits needed to operate. I would make sure that when you look into owning/purchasing a food truck you know everything you need to do for your county/state prior to investing thousands of dollars. Make sure you understand your business model and how many events you want to say yes and no to. Make sure you absolutely have a minimum dollar amount when you attend events that are open to the public.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think one of the lessons I learned early on is understanding my worth as a business owner. Not charging enough for my time. Not only is owning a food truck about serving a product but it’s also your time you need to factor in. What’s a Saturday or Sunday worth to you. While the event you are at might only be a 3 hour event it’s a 8+ hour day between prep, setup/tear down and cleaning. To be away from friends and family. Missed birthdays or girls nights with friends, what’s that worth to you. You have find a good work life balance and not say yes to everything. Burn out is real!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wafflesandwhip.com
• Instagram: wafflesandwhip
• Facebook: Waffles and Whip
• Other: [email protected] email to use

Image Credits
Abi Jo Photo Co Missie Lafrenz Photography