Welcome to Real Talk with Reginald D. I'm your host, Reginald D. On today's episode, I have an extraordinary young man, Mario Mack. Mario is a 12-year-old entrepreneur from Fairfield, Alabama, who started his own food truck business, Jay's Pop-Up Shaved Ice, at 11 years old. Welcome to the show, Mario. I'm glad to be here. Thank you, man. Thank you. I read your story. And I said, I got to find this young man and put him on my show, man. You got a remarkable, remarkable story. Thank you. So tell us about Mario Mack.
So I originally wanted to do this mainly because my mom, she started her own business like three or four years before I started mine. And I was really inspired because she said that she really wanted to work for herself and she wanted to expand her business. And that inspired me to do it as well.
That's a young age, man, to start your own food truck business and things like that. What was the process like when you were starting up your business?
So the process was we were trying to figure out where I wanted to start. So eventually where we started from was we ordered a shave ice machine and we started going to football and baseball games selling shave ice. And that's really where it started. And throughout the process, I was saving up money here and there until I was able to save up enough to buy my first food truck. And that's really where it really started. And then once we started on the food truck, We started selling food as well, and we were able to save up again to get a full-size food truck, and now currently it's getting renovated so that we can start working on it.
Man, that's awesome, Mario. You got the right mindset, man. You got to put your money back into your business to help grow it. A lot of people try to start a business, then they want to take all the money and go spend it on all the stuff and things like that to have fun and live a certain lifestyle. But if you don't put money back into your business or your dream, then one day it won't be. It'll collapse. So I am very, very impressed with your business mind, with you and your mom, and how you're putting it all together. Man, you got a great head on your shoulders and I think you're going somewhere with this thing. So Mario, I know starting a business is not easy. What were some of the challenges that you were faced with when you were starting your food truck business?
Some of the biggest challenges I think we've had was when we first started off, we had to figure out how to get attention so that we can actually get into the events and whatnot. So what I mean by that is, say we want to go to a football game, we'll have to get in contact with the people to see if they want like a client so they could like actually buy the stuff. And another challenge is we have to figure out like the plans. So like we have certain plans that we would do. So let's say like We do unlimited small shaved ice for a certain price, or we do a certain amount of shaved ice in a different size. And we really had to figure out the price ranges in between those. That was another challenge we had. And another challenge, I think, was really trying to get people to recognize us so that we wouldn't have to work as hard to find more jobs, or people would call us for it. And eventually, that did happen. And I think that was eventually where we figured out how we could do things. And I think that's where our challenges started to become less and less.
Exactly. It's always a process in trying to get in the right spot at the right time and get the money flowing the way it should and the way you want it to. Let me back up on something. You said that y'all also sold food.
Yes, we started selling food once we got our first food truck. And so a lot of people trained me how to cook and that's where I started. And I think the biggest place that we sold the most amount of food was we went to a job and they asked us if we can sell food there. We sold a lot. We made like $400 in one day. One of the biggest like ever we've done at that time.
Right. Right. What type of food were you selling?
We were selling hamburgers, which was what we sold the most. The second thing we sold the most was Philly cheesesteaks. We sold hot dogs. We sold a lot of stuff, but the main things that we sold were hot dogs, hamburgers and Philly cheesesteaks. That was the most we sold.
Okay. So I'm looking at Mario and I'm saying to myself, this young man has his own business. going to school and doing all of this stuff. How do you balance school, the business, and all of that together?
Well, recently, and I mean very recently, I started homeschool, mostly because I want to graduate before I turn 18, which is a possibility. And that's what I want to do because if I graduate early, I can go to college and I can get culinary arts. so I can start cooking more. But before, I would get a schedule. So one day, someone would be working on the food truck while I'm at school. Someone would pick me up, take me to the location, or we would do, like, Saturdays and Sundays and things like that. That's how it was back then, though.
Yeah, so it's important, and I think you got it, because people don't understand that when you have multiple things going on, you know, going to school, running the business or whatever the case may be. You juggle it more than one thing. You have to have time management. You have to manage your time. You know, you've got to be on point when it comes to managing everything because it can get lopsided if you don't have that under control. And I can tell that you know how to manage your time and you have everything. You got to plan, set aside to make sure everything, everything is successful, which I really admire that about you. So Mario, let me ask you this. What do your friends say about you going to school and owning your own business and things like that? What do they say about that?
Well, a lot of them were really surprised and a lot of them were happy for me. They actually supported me. And something that I actually liked was when I went to my civics class, she asked me if she could do a presentation because we were doing like entrepreneurship at that time. And she used me as an example as entrepreneurship in our class. So that was really cool to me.
Wow, man, that speeds volume. You know that, right? Young man, your age to stand up in a class and teach entrepreneurship, that's saying something huge. Man, young as you are, no telling how far you're going to go. No telling how far you're going to go. So Mario, what was your favorite part about running Jay Shady's food truck?
I think my favorite part is when we go and feed the homeless. That was like my favorite thing that I like to do. And one of these times when we went to go feed the homeless, a lot of people actually recognized me from when I was on the news a couple months ago. And that really made me happy as well. And that was one of my favorite moments.
Yeah, because I read your article about you. And that's one of the things that touched me is when they said you would feed the homeless. and things like that, that really inspired me. And you got to understand that that's the way God has us set up. That's how you're going to keep being blessed by being a blessing to people who can't, you know, help themselves or whatever the case may be. And that really inspires you. That's a good thing. So tell us about one of your most memorable experiences when you were operating J. Shea Dice.
I think my most memorable is when we were working and I was just enjoying my time with me and my family. We were working on the food truck and we had a lot of encounters with people and they recognized me and they also asked me how I started out as well. And that was the most memorable.
Yeah, man, that's awesome. You doing the thing with your family, man, and it's y'all own at the end of the day, you know, you own it. And that's the remarkable thing about it. And I bet it's like when people come up to you like, hey, man, how did you do this? I saw you on this. I know it feels good, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. Yeah, and that's when you know you own something, when people recognize you and lift you up for the things that you do. So what is your future goal, Mario, for your business?
My future goal is to have a chain of food trucks. And I also want to open up my own restaurant. And that's really what I want to do.
So let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. You want to open up your own restaurant. Now, let me ask you this. Chain of food trucks. You said you want a chain of food trucks. What type of food trucks you want that to be? The same, different, multiple trucks.
I want some to be focused on shave ice and some to be focused on food, since that's really the two places that I choose from. So that's really where I want to start. I'm thinking about starting something else, but that's really what I really want to do. What type of restaurant? I want to do something unique that nobody's done before. I wanted to show my journey, but I also want it to be like a new experience for everybody that goes there. And I really haven't thought about it as much as I should, but I really know what direction I wanted to go. And I'm going to continue to go that direction because I feel that's the way it should go. But I really don't know quite yet.
Yeah, think about it, man. I mean, you said the most important thing. You got a direction. As long as you got direction, you know, in life sometimes, as long as we got direction, you don't have to see it clearly. You know, as you keep going, keep moving forward, you're going to start seeing it more clearer and clearer and clearer as you keep going. Just don't turn back. So let me ask you this, Mario. What keeps your passion going in owning your own business and things like that? I mean, you're juggling school and you're doing all this stuff, and most kids would be like, man, I'm tired of doing this, and I'm going to go to school and come home and play video games. I don't want to be doing all this other stuff. So what drives you and inspires you to keep going? Because I know sometimes it's tough, and I know sometimes trying to juggle things will get rough. So what inspires you?
I think what inspires me the most is My mom, she continues to pervere, and she continues to push forward no matter the challenges. She's really the one who inspired me the most. And when I think about it, I say, I can't give up. If she doesn't give up, I can't give up. I have to pervere. I have to keep going till I reach my goal.
Yeah, that's it, man. I grew up in a single-parent home, just me and my mom and my sister. And I asked her to let me sign a waiver at Burger King at 13 years old so I can go work. And I talked her into it, and she did it. And I had to go to school, and I had to work at Burger King because I had to help pay bills, you know, and things like that. In high school, I worked three jobs and went to high school just to help out around the house and pay bills, things like that. You know, I really admire you. You understand what it takes in life to be successful. You understand, you see what you see in your mom and you see how she's built and how she works and the way she works the process and you jump right in there and apply yourself to it. And that's amazing. Mario, what are one of the important lessons you've learned in running the business?
I think the most important lessons I've learned is if you give up, there might be something that is right there, but if you give up, you'll never know what it is. And I know I can't give up and I have to keep going because it could be right there, the thing that I really want the most. So I know I can't give up.
Yeah. It's funny that you said that because I was on a podcast with, uh, a guy earlier today. He's an actor, actually. I don't know if you ever seen the movie, Black Lightning. You seen that movie? All right. So, the big guy, Alfonso, you know, Jackson, him, Black Lightning, that's who I interviewed today. Really? Yeah. But yeah, I interviewed him today, and that's one thing we talked about in his acting career and things like that, that you hit on, you know, not giving up, because you could be in that one opportunity in your life to be in front of you and you don't do it. And it could be that one opportunity to be the opportunity that would take you to the next level where you needed to be in life. So, I'm glad you said that. Let's me know that word is out there today. Tell somebody, don't quit, don't give up, and things like that. So, let me ask you this, Mario. When you were working the food truck, what's the end of the day process? When you got to break it down, you got to clean, you got to do all this kind of stuff. What is that process like?
So usually the process is we'll turn off everything, we'll sweep, we'll clean. Usually we have our truck with us, so we'll move everything into the truck and we'll throw away. And we'll take the food truck, we'll put it where it has to go. Then we'll have to take everything out the truck that has to go. And we'll have to reset everything, especially with the shave ice, because the flavors go bad. So we usually have to throw those away, go to the store, buy more. And if we really sell out, we'll have to either go the same day to get more or go a day before we go out again. And that's usually the process.
OK. And you mentioned something earlier that I want to go back to. I think it's very, very, very important. And I think you got your eyes on it. You mentioned when you were starting a business, one of the struggles were trying to figure out the pricing of everything you were going to sell. And that's amazing that you think like that because that's a businessman mentality. You know, you got to understand your prices, man. You could be out there selling stuff and you'd be losing, losing all day long if you don't price it right. And you got to know what it is. And you got to know your bottom line at the end of the day. You know, basically what you bought, your services. And at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, what's the bottom line? What did I come away with? And you got to get the cost of running the truck and all that kind of stuff. So I know you own it. And that stood out. I mean, I was kind of impressed with that because you got to kind of figure it out. Cause I actually have seen people that start a business and they just start pricing stuff and they don't even cover the cost. And I'm like, man, how can you stay in business? You can't stay in business like that. You got to charge and help cover your costs. So you got a lot of wisdom for a young man. I'll tell you that. So Mario, what advice would you give somebody that's young and want to start their own business, want to be their own entrepreneur? Because I hear a lot of kids your age talk about that. They're not actually doing it like you are, but what's some advice you can give them?
Some of the best advice I would give them, in my opinion, is if you want to do something, you should at least give it a try, and you shouldn't give up, and you also should think that you're going to succeed. You have to manifest that. You can't just be like, okay, I'm going to do this. I'm going to see if I can do it or not. You have to think in your mind, I know I can do this. I know I will. I know I'll prefer. I know I will succeed. That's the mindset you have to do when you're going into this type of thing. For me, that's what, in my opinion, it is.
Yeah, you have to be confident in yourself. That's what I pick up with you. You're confident in what you do, and you are striving to be the best at what you do, and you have a vision at the end of the day. That's what people don't understand. The most important part, I have a vision. Not just this one truck. I know multiple trucks selling multiple products. Then I want my own restaurant. And I want my restaurant to be a experience that no other restaurant has. So that's remarkable. And as long as you have forward thinking, which you do, I mean, you won't stop. You know, you got to keep going. You'll keep going. As long as you keep thinking, your mind will make your body react. You know, so as long as you keep thinking the way you're thinking, man, you're definitely going to be successful in life, Mario. And man, I'm proud of you, man. When I read your story, I was like, man, I need to talk to this young man. Thank you. So you mentioned something. You said you was going to culinary school and that's what you wanted to do. But do you do any cooking now?
Yes, I do. I do a lot of cooking, to be completely honest with you. I usually make breakfast and do things like that. I've been wanting to learn how to cook other things like that. I've also learned how to cook steaks and chicken and all of that good stuff. And also, as you heard me say earlier, people have been teaching me how to cook. They have cooked a lot of their life. And actually, my uncle used to go to a restaurant and he taught me how to cut things well, and he taught me how to cook things as well.
You're surrounded by all kinds of people that's teaching you. That's a good thing, man. But I'll tell you what, you can't go wrong with cooking. You can't go wrong with food. It's going to always sell. So Mario, you have a Facebook page or where somebody can follow you or anything like that?
Yes, I do. I have a Facebook page.
Okay. What is it?
I had a Facebook page, but I've lost it and I've started another one. It's just Mario Mac. You can search it up in Facebook and you can follow me there.
Okay. All right. Well, Mario, man, I appreciate your time today and you took the time to hang out with me on your Sunday afternoon. I had a blast, man, and I want to stay in touch with you, and I want to follow you and see how you progress. I'm really excited about where you're going in life, and you're going to do big things, man. I appreciate you bringing me here as well. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And if you're ever in Fairfield, Alabama, stop by Jay Shady Dice and get some Shady Dice. It's summertime coming, man. It's about to get hot, so I know the business is going to start jumping. So there you have it, Mario Matt. Thank you so much, Mario. Thank you for having me. Yes, sir. Thanks for tuning in Real Talk with Reginald D. If you enjoyed the show, please share with anyone you feel the need to take this journey with us on being a better you. See you next time.