We were lucky to catch up with Shawn Derby recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shawn, appreciate you 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.
What are the risks of starting a business? Are you willing to take that risk for your dreams to come true? Those are the questions you need to ask yourself when starting your business. Those are the questions I asked my self before starting Triple Js BBQ & Catering. The biggest risk of starting a business is there is a possibility that it don’t work out and you can loose your whole life savings that you invested into your business. Was I willing to take that risk? The answer is yes because I put God over fear any day. I believe in myself and my food. I knew all I had to do was get people in and taste the food I was putting out. I took that risk and there are many more to come I’m sure but I will do it all over if I had to, in order to see my dream come true.
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.
Well I am a 36 years old Husband and father of six. I started in my first restaurant (Walts bbq) at the age of 16 years old. I had my first daughter on the way and I knew I had to take care of responsibilities. I started off as a dishwasher and quickly learned cooking techniques and there I fell in love with cooking. I’ve been to several restaurants working as a line cook/kitchen manger and head chefs learning and mastering my craft. In 2018 i started Triple Js BBQ, Catering & Delivery. We are currently on our second food truck and you can order from us on all food delivery platforms. My team and I are very passionate about the food we cook and put out to our customers. We want our customers to feel like each plate was cooked for them privately and with love. We use fresh ingredients and make everything from scratch while putting out some of the best upscale bbq that we possibly can.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One lesson I had to unlearn was thinking I knew everything from the food I was cooking. Reluctant to take feed back and suggestions from chefs trying to make me and my food better. The main lesson every chef and business owner has to learn is that there is always room to get better. No matter how good you think your product is, it can be better. There is always a person who has been out there doing it longer and knows more.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Building your business in todays environment is all about marketing and being seen. In the beginning I was focused on getting my food out and tasted so word of mouth could help me move my food. Although that is an excellent marketing tool it takes a lot more. So I was not posting everyday and had maybe 100-150 followers. When my wife took over our social media and we were posting everyday and showed pictures of new menu items and the way we cooked them our followers jumped instantly. So my advice would be to post your business and products as soon as you start your business. Create a following and you will be successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.thetriplejbarbq.com
- Instagram: Chef_derby.Shawn
- Facebook: @Triple js Bar b Que
- Yelp: Triple js catering and delivery