Meet Adan Mosqueda | Food Truck Owner/Operator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adan Mosqueda and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve had an entrepreneur mindset since childhood. Growing up, I was surrounded by hustlers. My parents and grandparents on both sides were not lazy by any means! My grandfather Jose, on the Espinoza side of my family, worked for GM building cars and would sell Tamales, Breakfast Burritos, and homemade salsa to his co-workers. My grandmother Gloria C. Mosqueda on my father’s side of the family, worked multiple jobs and sold tamales and homemade salsa on the side as well! So for me it was the same. I worked jobs and had to hustle tamales on the side to support my growing family! I’ve worked in many local restaurants even managed a few. I knew that one day I would own my own business. I would tell my old bosses that I sell tamales on the side and hope that one day I can turn it into a business of it’s own. But they discouraged it, some even laughed, saying that running a business is a lot of work and it’d be much easier to stay working a job. Some people would even tell me “how are you going to support your family selling tamales”. It didn’t deter me from my goal though. So with the experience I was gaining from managing other people’s kitchens, and growing up I loved cooking, It was a major part of my culture, I applied it into building something for my family! Working a job limited, and put a cap on, our lifestyle. I needed something that could not only support us, but also allow us to live a lifestyle where we could do more than just work! I would like to be able to travel and see the world one day. Growing up in Saginaw you don’t have too many opportunities that can take you places. You kind of have to make it happen on your own. I felt like I needed to show/teach my children, and remind them, that this is America the land of opportunities where you don’t have to rely on someone else to write you a paycheck. What better way to show them, other than being your own boss! I started building a business plan and the rest is history.
 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
At first I just wanted to learn how to make tamales the way my grandma Mosqueda made them. They were my favorite growing up. So I asked her to show me the way. And she was happy to teach me. We moved away from Saginaw to a place that was a small village where you didn’t find Mexican cuisine and there weren’t very many jobs without having to commute for an hr in any direction. So, to overcome this challenge, she came and taught me everything I needed to know about the family tradition of hustling tamales. I seen this community had a need and I wanted to fill that need. That’s what entrepreneurship is all about!
I started small and would cook some tamales in the morning and walk into town with our youngest child, Armando at the time, in a stroller packed with fresh tamales! I would walk door to door to all the business’ during lunch time and see if the employees wanted to try some fresh tamales. It went over very well! That’s what got me started in the journey. Our older two kids Caydince and Adan Jr one day started their own “food truck” under our kitchen table while I was cooking dinner one day and they called it “Sis-N-Bros Tacos”….where they were making tacos out of paper ingredients….I told them that one day I’ll start a food truck for them and name it in honor of their vision.
From there, I started selling tacos from under a tent in town for a local event that was happening. We ended up moving back to Saginaw shortly after that, so i stopped doing my own thing and went back to working in a restaurant. But, I never let go of that feeling of working for yourself and seeing people enjoy what you have created!
There is nothing in this world that feels better than watching someone bite into your food and have a smile and sometimes see them go into a trance like you see in the movies and have that nostalgia hit them.
So it took me a little while to get back into the hustle, but as you can see we pushed through that tough time got back on our feet and started the grind back up! I partnered up with a friend and launched the “MI-strEATs” food truck. It was rough that first year but we made it through! After that first year, we decided to go out separate ways since the one food truck wasn’t able to support two families. We talked with a friend who runs the SVRC Marketplace in downtown Saginaw, they have the perfect platform for someone who wants to start a business of their own, to get their feet wet and see what it takes to get going. So we launched our first business “Tamales Especial”. We rented kitchen space/time from them to have a certified and licensed kitchen to cook food out of and we bought a tent and a banner with our logo on it, so we could go to events and pop up with a tent and a “hotbox” packed full of tamales to sell. We did that for a couple months. Finally we were able to put a down payment on getting a trailer custom built for us. 8 months later we were notified it was ready for pick up, however we weren’t quite ready considering we didn’t have a truck to go pick up the trailer from Orlando, FL and haul it around daily. We had some friends donate to the cause and my father in-law donate his time, vehicle and money to help us get down there and pick it up. 3 months later we were able to afford to get our second business “Sis-N-Bros Tacos” licensed through the health dept. And then a couple months of working we were able to get our own truck to haul it around for daily lunch and dinner services. Since then we’ve been able to travel all around the state and take our food to different communities. Now we’re in our second year on the trailer and we are getting calls all the time from customers who are wondering where we will be at next so they can enjoy our food!! Since we’ve opened we’ve added many different menu items that people have come to enjoy other than our signature flagship product/brand Tamales Especial. Was it easy? Not by any means! But now we are ready to take on every obstacle this entrepreneur life can throw at us!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
That all depends on the season they plan to visit! If they come in the early spring I would make sure to take them to the Freeland Walleye Festival! That is where we made our debut as a food vendor! It has everything from a Carnival, Fishing tournaments, poker tournaments, live bands/beer tent and last but certainly my favorite….. rummage sales throughout the entire community for an entire week or so! If they plan on coming to visit during the summer I’d be sure to take them down to the riverfront in Bay City by Wenonah Park there is another place we are frequently selling our food. It’s called Drift Shoreside Beer Garden. They have multiple food trucks from around the TRI-cities and surrounding areas with a plethora of food options. If the bar scene is what they want, I’d take them to Old town Saginaw down on Hamilton st. where there is a variety of restaurants, bars, pubs, and even a local distillery to enjoy local craft cocktails. There are so many different flavors to taste when coming to Saginaw, I couldn’t just pick one place to recommend eating at. I’ll definitely recommend if they want a signature “Giant Steak Sandwich” ….I’d say go to Tim’s Tony’s here in Saginaw! I worked there for years and they have the best ones! Also the SVRC Marketplace in downtown Saginaw has a nice variety of restaurants in a European style marketplace with everything from Chicago style hotdogs and sausage, to Elote (Mexican street corn) from our good friend James the Cob King! As well as some of the best Pho I’ve tasted from Saigon sandwich company! Also, if you haven’t tried rolled ice cream yet?! We’ve got just that at a place in the marketplace called Tio Lio’s rolled ice cream…. definitely must have if you haven’t had it before! I can’t forget to mention you can go fishing during all the seasons on the Saginaw river from Saginaw through Bay City into the Saginaw Bay! This is Michigan by the way …. There are so many different festivals going on all summer long! The beautiful fireworks of Saginaw on the 4th of July as well as a 3 day fireworks show in Bay City! We have the annual Cinco De Mayo festival in Saginaw that just keeps growing bigger and bigger each year. It used to be a one day event and has now turned into an almost week long festival in multiple locations throughout the city!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I wouldn’t be where I am today without the unmatched love and support I get from my wife Shayko. She has been with me through it all! She’s has been there for the ups and most importantly the downs. She keeps me going most days. She is my best critic. I know that when she tells me something about a recipe, or a new menu item, I can trust that she is giving me her unbiased opinion about it. I can imagine living with an entrepreneur is more than what most people bargain for. It is not for the weak. It’s been especially tough since we started our own business. Some days you just want to throw in the towel because something didn’t go as planned or something unexpected happened and it sets us back a little bit. But that is just how it goes sometimes. That’s where a lot of people just give up and go back to working a job. But a true entrepreneur pushes through those moments and makes the foundation stronger so it doesn’t happen again. Trial and error is normal when building something like this.
I’d also like to shout-out some others who’ve sponsored and supported us on our journey.
Our parents, hers and mine, have been nothing but supportive and encouraging to what we are building. They’ve helped out financially at times, and they’ve helped out with family affairs so that the business can be out at events while they have extra curricular activities going on.
Our good friend Rachel at the SVRC Marketplace in Downtown Saginaw. She helped us tremendously…. more than we could ever expect!
And everyone else who has donated to help us get our trailer home from Florida after it was built! We wouldn’t have been able to grow as fast as we are without their support.

Website: Tamales-Especial.square.site

Facebook: Facebook.com/TamalesEspecial