It started as a conversation between coworkers, the kind of thing you toss around to pass the time between serving customers: If we started our own business, what would we do?
Jenni Ware and Sarah Stogsdill worked together at The New Greenery restaurant a few years ago and dreamed about starting their own food service business. Something a little different, even a little quirky to match their personalities.
They imagined theyd buy a food truck or a concession trailer. And sell nothing but fried food. Decadent and delicious. But cheap. The kind of thing youd buy at a fair:
Funnel cakes. Fried Twinkies. Fried brownies.
Fried Suzie Q potatoes loaded with chili and cheese. Standard fair food like walking tacos and nachos. Signature dishes like The Twisted Pig pulled pork sandwich or The Belly Ache with pulled pork, chili, cheese, barbecue sauce, sour cream and jalapeños.
They took a chance on their dream when they found an old carnival concession stand complete with flashing colored lights and billboards.
It was a carny delight. It was beautiful, Sarah recalled.
I think the concession trailer was my idea and Sarah was easily led, Jenni said.
They bought the trailer in September 2015 and set up for their first event within weeks, at the annual Farm City Days festival. They sweated over hot fryers with no air conditioning, struggling to find the right balance between food preparation and service.
We didnt know a thing about what we were doing, Jenni said.
Encouraged by success of that first event and realizing they had a lot to learn and the trailer needed a lot of work they took a few months to revise their dream.
THREE YEARS later, Simply Delicious Concessions and Catering LLC bares little resemblance to that carny trailer. The flashing lights ate too much electrical power and the billboards may have been fun but they werent practical. The trailers a little classier now, with a simple, clean look. It still doesnt have air conditioning, though.
We needed a lot of lipstick on that pig, for sure, Sarah said.
And their business plan has evolved, too. Its just a side gig (Jenni now works as a pharmacy technician at Neosho Memorial Regional Hospital and Sarah is a stay-at-home mom), but its still a lot of work and quite a bit quirky.
This is year three. Weve lasted longer than most marriages, Sarah joked.
