We recently connected with Vincent Marez and have shared our conversation below.

Vincent , appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

From Idea to Execution took the teamwork of me and my Wife, Jessica. I had the idea; she executed. QueenPins Taco Truck was established in 2020.

In typical Mexican/American fashion, the idea sparked while making dozens upon dozens of tamales for the Holidays for our family. Holiday guests would ask if my wife could make them a dozen to take to their home. Jessica would never say no to nourishing a family at Christmas. I told her to profit off her hard work. She didn’t believe people would purchase her Homemade Tamales. I knew better!

When she agreed to sell her goods, demand skyrocketed!

I began researching on how to start a food business. I never been in the restaurant or food service industry so I had a lot to learn. The countless permits, training courses, and guidelines the food service industry must abide by were new to me.
I presented my ideas to my wife and she formulated a realistic plan which would pass Food Safety Regulations at any level.

I learned Date Stamping, Cross-Contamination, Food-Bourn Illness, State and Local Licensing, and much more within a few months of establishing QueenPins with the State.

Basic electrical, plumbing, and maintenance were also skills learned in order to provide a safe work environment for my family/staff and prepare quality food for our customers.

Once we established our business plan, we purchased our first trailer. Within weeks of opening, we learned the education process for a food business is ongoing and never-ending. Seeking new knowledge is what drives us to become better service providers daily.

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?

Born Out Of Boredom

QueenPins Taco Truck was born on an idle mind which is never meant to be idle. While working my full time job as a delivery driver for Coca-Cola, I began to feel the everyday dread of monotony! I began seeking a way to push my mind into new fields I have never explored before.

My Wife had been pressing Tamales for our family for years and was always an exceptional cook. Little did she know I began exploring the option of purchasing a food business for not only her, but our family.
I believed with her recipes, we could open a small business which could flourish.

I had never been in the culinary field before and I longed to learn a new craft. I had no idea “How Much” I was going to be expected to learn as we dove into the world of A Mobile Food Establishment.

As I introduced this project to my wife, she was excited and established our mantra for business. “Treat Others How We Want To Be Treated!” The timeless Adage was adopted by QueenPins and we set out on our journey.

Anxiety grew rapidly, as running a small business was no easy task for us. We quickly learned cooking for family dinners is a different type of food preparation than bringing food to events for hundreds of people. We had to adapt and dial in what kind of Food Business we wanted to be.

We felt with our family dynamic it would be best to concentrate on events and gatherings. We asked fellow food truck entrepreneurs how to handle certain obstacles to this lifestyle which became our lifeline to survival. Our willingness to adapt and learn new skills, techniques, and systems also helped keep us progressing with each event we agreed to participate in.

With this, we began to grow and get involved more closely with our community.
Support from locals has been overwhelming. As we branched out, we now feel our community has grown to not only Pomona, Kansas (where we are based) but cities around as well. Ottawa, Kansas City, Emporia, Topeka and many other towns have shown massive amounts of support since the inception of QueenPins. Without this Support we would have become stagnant quickly.

Progress from this point looks like learning new skills and never to get comfortable with the position we are in. We want to continue to reach new heights each month by continuous engagement with returning customers and gaining new clients along our voyage. We want event coordinators to feel comfortable booking QueenPins Taco Truck for their event because we see how hard they work. We see communities invest months, sometimes years in planning events to showcase their town or cities. We love being apart of that culture which represents hard working people trying to do different concerts, fairs, derby’s, or festivals for their community. We also love being apart of more intimate engagements such as school events, weddings, or catering which allows us to be more personable with our clients.

In every case, it’s our honor to be involved with all these community members and would enjoy many more years of service to our community.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

At first, the best way to get any clients was cold calls to businesses, emails to events, and staying on social media constantly.

Social Media has such massive power to reach masses we felt we had to stay on every avenue we could.
Facebook reached the most for us and we got the most business from that platform.
However, having teenager kids helps me stay connected on “younger” platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok.
Businesses can reach large amounts of people quickly over these platforms and we are grateful for each one.

After our first year though, WORD OF MOUTH has by far been the best avenue to reach new clients. We quickly learned that many event coordinators talk amongst each other and that helped greatly.

I suggest to any new business to not get discouraged at first. It was a lot of leg work to get our first customer base but definitely worth the work in the end.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My story of resilience to become a Productive Business Owner who works closely with the community began in 2009.

In 2009, I was indicted in the Federal Court of Kansas for A Drug Conspiracy. I was sentenced to 120 Months to be served far away from my family in federal custody.
While away from family, I decided I didn’t want that to be my legacy and I desperately didn’t want my kids to follow the same path.
I decided to change my life. I took many courses while incarcerated to better my chances of not going back to prison.

However, my mind was made! I WOULD NOT RETURN TO MY PREVIOUS LIFESTYLE which claimed many years of my children’s life. My kids were definitely my reason to change. I obtained my Associates Degree in Business Management while incarcerated from Mount Marty College in Yankton South Dakota.

Upon Re-Entry to Society In 2016, I needed to prove to my children that mistakes will be made in life but how you react to the mistakes will determine your character.

I knew if I wanted to be accepted socially, I had to change the image of a “released criminal.” I knew if I wanted to be invited to schools, weddings, and any public event, people couldn’t view me as a criminal.
I wanted them to see a professional food truck owner who can be trusted in our community and not the previous man I was who sold narcotics to individuals. I believe I have accomplished this.

My past may have kept me out of certain events, but I believe I have altered the perception of individuals who have re-entered society. I have shown not only my commitment to change but also I can be trusted to be a hard-working member of my community.

I have shown community kids you can be labeled as a misfit and still make it. You can be at your lowest point in life and still turn around and do great things. I credit my change to my support system. My family, friends, and community which rallies behind me to do better. If one kid takes this as motivation and changes their life, it will all be worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://queenpins.wixsite.com/queenpinsmexicanfood?
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queenpins2020?igsh=MW9obXhwdmlubDJnbw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1PdCMnwP1y/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@queenpinstacotruck?_t=ZP-8tafyrbENKg&_r=1

Image Credits

Amanda Overton
Brandon Yohe