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

Alright, Robin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I wanted a small brick and mortar initially but owning a food truck was in my price range. I knew what I wanted my restaurant to be named but I had no idea what to name my food truck.. Most food trucks specialize in a certain type of food and I wanted to do the same. Mac n cheese kept coming to mind more than any other dish. I think I played around with several names until I finally decided that I wanted to make vegan Mac n Cheez bowls with a “build your own” concept. I was pretty sure I wanted the word vegan in the name because I wanted everyone to know it was a vegan food truck. I kept saying Mac Vegan out loud and all I could think about was Mc Donald’s and I wanted something a little different than that so I added the “d” on the end and made the “c” a macaroni noodle. That’s how Mac’d Vegan came to life and it’s been a recognizable name ever since.

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?

I went out for my birthday one year and had a bad experience with meat and I decided in that moment that I would never eat meat again. When I initially stopped eating meat products there weren’t a lot of vegan options out there. There were no vegan restaurants in Charlotte North Carolina where I live and no vegan options on any restaurant menu. Since I was used to eating certain foods, I had to create them at home in a vegan version so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat meat again. Creating these meals were enjoyable and turned into a passion that I wanted to share with others. I starting making chick’n salad in 3 flavors and sold them in the Rhino Markets in Charlotte and once Covid hit they stopped ordering them so I opened my food truck shortly after and made it an option as well.

When I opened my food truck I wanted customers to be able to choose different toppings on their Mac n Cheez so I offered chili, veggies, Buffalo Chik’n and a Mushroom Philly topping. Then I added other items to the menu like chick’n salad, Italian sausage on a hoagie with Mac n Cheez on top, mushroom Phill on a hoagie, Chick’n Gyro with my homemade Tzatziki sauce and a BBQ sandwich made from carrots served with homemade slaw.

When I opened my food truck it wasn’t only because of a passion that I had but to also give others that didn’t eat meat the experience of having a flavorful meal that was better for them than the alternative. I’m sure I captured that.

What sets me apart is that I have branded items that I also sell on my website for customers that can’t get to my food truck. I branded a vegan Frappuccino that sells online and I’m hoping to get it in stores soon.

I’m most proud that I followed my passion and opened my food truck and created this awesome vegan food company that everyone can enjoy whenever they want.

After recently being diagnosed with lupus and having to change my eating habits even more, I want my clients to know I will be adding gluten-free options and raw vegan options to my menu. I have been getting requests for gluten-free options and it’s time to give them what they’ve been asking for.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

What helped build my reputation is showing up when I’m supposed to. You can always count on me to be where I said I would be. Aside from having good food, I am very dependable, I’m friendly and I genuinely care about providing the best experience when clients come to my truck. There have been times where clients wanted to try 2 items but only had enough money for 1 item and I just gave it to them. I feed the homeless, I have a mini market on the food truck so I give candy and chocolate away to kids when they come inside my bus. I really enjoy what I do and I pass that along.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Often times you wear many hats when you manage people because everyone is different and you have to treat them as such. My advice is to treat your team members like you would want to be treated but instill in them how important your business is to you and that it should be as important to them while they’re working with you. Being honest, straight forward and understanding gets you a long way. It only takes one bad episode for someone to bad mouth you to the public and ruin your reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://macdvegan.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/macdvegan
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/macdvegan