"Get A Grip" | Mogul Moments with CDJ S3 Ep2 With Guest, CEO Chef Tony Durden

So welcome back. This is season 3, episode 3 of Mogul Moments. I am your host Camille D. Jamerson, and I am the founder and C.E.M® I am the CEO of both C.E.M® and Associates and the Camille Company. And the Camille Company is the organization that is founding and powering and sponsoring Mogul Moments. So I am so excited that my new lifestyle brand is also kind of the catalyst behind pushing Mogul Moments forward. So if you missed the last episode we did, with Larry Thomas, you need to go back and watch that. That was fire. And it's on YouTube. If you put in #MogulMoments or look on my channel, you'll be able to catch it there. This week is going to be just as good. I am so excited to have our guest today. I met him through one of my board of advisors. I was getting ready to plan my big formal coming out event for CDJ and Associates, and I needed a caterer. And one of the things that I know, that I know, that I know is that people will remember your music, they will remember your venue, and they will remember your food. So I was like, the food has to be the bomb, the food has to be good, the food has to be good. And my board of advisor, he was like, listen, I know this guy, we're gonna go with him. I think you should go with him. I think you should go with him. And we did. I didn't have a taste test or anything. And when I tell you guys, he knocked it out of the park. He did that over and above what I even asked for or wanted or thought was going to happen. And people still talk about that food today. Those meatballs was fire. Cheese, whatever. They still talk about it today, and I'm so, so excited that I went with him. And since that time, I've just watched him blow up all over Metro Detroit and beyond. He has taken his business in a couple of different directions, and I think we all can learn from his journey, from his passion, and from his ingenuity. So I'm going to read a little bit of his bio, and then Gonna bring him on camera for you. Born and raised in the city of Detroit, Chef Tony Durden Jr. remembers picking up his first spatula in the kitchen at the tender age of 3. Beginning his professional catering journey at his family-owned lounge, Chef Tony credits his family for inspiring him to choose a career in culinary arts. Now, Chef Tony received his formal culinary training at Baker College through their premier program known as the Culinary Institute of University of Michigan, where he received a degree in business with a major in culinary arts. So I love the fact that he isn't just someone in the back of the kitchen cooking. He's also educated, right? So can we give it up for him? He has a wealth of experience throughout the Metro Detroit area, which includes working with a wide range of companies such as Hyatt, Compass Group, DMC, and more. These experiences in the culinary industry led Chef Tony to establish Durden Catering in 2007. His journey has led him to have the honor to cater events for celebrities and public figures such as Patti LaBelle, Kim, Ron Isley, our City Council President Brenda Jones, the renowned Karen Clark Sheard, and more. He credits one of his biggest accomplishments in his career to meeting his idol, Chef G. Garvin, competing and winning on the national television show The Underground BBQ Challenge. Also in 2017, Durden's Catering was awarded the 313 Best in Black Award for Best Caterer. Can you guys help me welcome none other than Chef Tony Durden? I'm gonna unmute him and bring him on camera. Chef, you there?

Yes, yes.

Hey, hey, let them see your face. There you are.

Hello, hello.

Well, hey, welcome to Mogul Moments. I'm so glad you're here.

Hello.

I know, this is working from home, right?

The kids.

Oh, please, bruh, I got people walking all over the place. So let's get started. Tell me about your journey into entrepreneurship. How did you get from Baker College to Durden's Catering? And I know, you know, there's always the underlay for the overlay. So what part of the story am I missing?

So it was quite interesting. I've always known that I wanted to be in business for myself. Um, and I wanted to get— and I wanted to do that like as quickly as possible while still gaining experience in the industry, right? So I didn't want— I didn't want to work 15 years at a job and then say, okay, I want to own my own business. I wanted to do this like— I wanted to go through all of the growing pains myself so that I could teach the next person. Uh, so I fresh out of college, I started working at a bar, Lucky's Bar and Grill. I probably worked there for about 3 to 4 months. From Lucky's, I went straight into the DMC. Um, I was selling dinners in between. Uh, so I went out to the salons, went out to the barber shops, all that good stuff. Started out at the hospital, worked for about a year or so at the hospital. I got promoted to supervisor the next year. Um, and then, you know, working, working, working. Then I started seeing, you know, my check, and I started seeing some of the employees' checks, and I'm like, well, they getting paid more than me. And I'm the supervisor. I'm in here, I'm in here all day. Uh, so from that piece, I'm like, all right, something got to shake. Start, you know, doing dinners and dinners more and more. So, dude, I, I, I'll cater your, I'll cater your event. That's the first catering event. I think we said I was in my one-bedroom apartment in Farmington Hills. Me and my, me and my girlfriend, my wife, which my girlfriend at the time, opened up like 200 cans of the little string beans because we, I let somebody buy their own food.. And, you know, we just provided a service. So that was the very first event I was, you know, did everything. So, um, from that, again, just got, got a few jobs from that event and it just kept growing and growing and growing and growing. And so it was one of the things like, oh yeah, well, I know this guy, he cooks, he caters, he went to school and his food is good. And so from that, it's just like the rest is history, tomorrow's a mystery.

How about that? So what do you like the least about your journey? What did you like the least about building your business?

Um, the least.

Yeah. What's that thing that it's like, if I didn't have to do that?

Uh, I don't know. I kind of like, I kind of like it all because it like pulls my story together. Yeah, so, well, I can tell you that a lot of people do not know this. A lot of people do not know this because the way we presented ourselves at catering events, especially in those, in those early years when my name really started to take off, um, that I was doing everything from home. Yeah, everything, everything. And I just had a speech where they said, where are you located? I say, hey, we're an off-premise catering company, we don't have a storefront. We rented a location, we had catering events. My office, I used to meet at the Tim Hortons around the corner from my house. I used to meet clients in the Tim Hortons. And so ironically, it was so funny. We did one event and a lady said, I'm happy I didn't choose nobody that was working out their basement. And me and my guy was sitting there, you don't even know our knees is hurting from walking all her stuff up them basement stairs. So that was one thing. We didn't carry ourselves like we're working out of the house.

That part, that part. And that's one of the things I can say about, um, your business, because like I said in the beginning, I experienced it for myself. Um, when you guys showed up on the scene, it was all professional, it was all business. Um, and I mean, that was one of the things I was worried about because you just— God bless you, but you don't know, you know, you don't know. And I got all these—

yep.

You know, you remember the crowd that I had, you know, the Detroit Auto Show after party. And I'm like, how are we going to show up? You know, and y'all came, you were geared, everybody was professional and clean and everything was organized. I mean, it was amazing. And I really appreciated the excellence that you guys brought to the table. And to know in some cases that you were doing that Um, and, and like you said, out of your basement.

So yeah, you, you, you even for sure came out the basement.

Well, thanks for letting me know.

I couldn't hold it anymore.

I am so telling my husband, like, yo, they was cooking the meatballs from the basement.

Who knew? Right, add the extra rack in the oven.

Wow, wow. But that also goes to show you that, um, you know, small beginnings can produce major things. Yes, just because my office is down here in my basement and you started in your basement, it doesn't mean that that's the end result, you know what I'm saying? Yes, it's just a part, like you say, it's a part of the story. It's a part of the story. So on your day-to-day as an entrepreneur, because this is the piece that people don't get to hear, what kinds of decisions do you have to make as an entrepreneur that people wouldn't expect?

Oh man, uh, one being COVID. Um, what do we do? You're a restaurant, what do we do? Um, I'm a caterer, what do we do? As I just spoke with you before, one of those things where it was like, okay, all this is going on, people are dying at alarming rates, uh, we— I need to shut this down to get my mental capacity in order so that I could— so that the people that I'm, that I'm leading, which being staff and my own household, can have the faith in me to trust in my decisions. So, uh, I shut down the carryout part of it completely. I shut the inside of the building down. We went on a 3-week hiatus and came back. I had just recently got a food truck. So I said, okay, to alleviate so many people within the building, let's just bring the food truck. I got a— the food truck is large as well. Let's bring the food truck back and just work out of the food truck, put the food truck in the parking lot and run that. And it's been great for us to this point. But just daily staffing issues. Knowing, knowing which, in which way to take the business. Okay, is it time to make a change now? Or how's this working for us? I try to communicate with the hood. How is— do any comments, questions, or concerns? Because my job is come in, get the business running successfully, and bag up so I can go to my next project. So I'm not seeing the things that you're seeing on a daily basis because I'm not, I'm not there. I'm going on to the next thing so that I could get some more people into the workforce.

Good. That's good. And I'm glad that you mentioned about COVID because the piece that people miss, especially concerning small businesses, is not only do we have to make decisions for our business and for the people that we employ, but we still run households. So we had to make certain that we had our families set, that we were straight concerning the things that we needed to run our households. And then make the decision about business. And I did the same thing as you. I shut it all down. I'm like, hold up, you know, I gotta make sure we stocked, we got what we need, my husband's taking care of my kids, taking care of my mama straight. Then I can think about what I'm gonna do with CDJA going forward. And those are the types of decisions that as an entrepreneur, um, people have to make certain that they're willing to make. You know, you got to be willing to make the hard calls. And Um, for some people who claim to be entrepreneurs, um, you know, this is the part that they miss.

It's like, I see it every day.

I do too, every day. And it's like, nah, bruh, you know.

So like, and so like right now, you know, the world's opening back up, but I just, I, I'm just, again, I just can't see myself jumping back out there in the same capacity in which I was because it's not the same, to be honest. It's not the same. I can't, I can't go out and cater an event for 200 people.

Yeah, because there are no— there should not even be any events for 200 people.

I'm getting, I'm getting the emails, I'm getting the calls. I can't do it. Um, I don't want to put my staff in the way of that. I don't want myself in the way of that. I don't want to put anybody else in the way of that. So if I can do my part and not participate in it, that's what I'm going to do. But I just, I It has changed my perspective completely. My outlook on life with this COVID piece has just changed completely.

Explain. What do you mean?

As far as like going in business, like I just told you, I'm not even in the— I only had a catering mindset right now before it happened. I was geared up, ready to go into my wedding season. Now I'm deflated in a sense. It's deflating. I've lost some people due to this piece. Um, business has changed. We lost a lot of business revenue. Um, so I, I'm now trying to reshift my energy and to focus on something else. Not saying that I'm quitting, uh, but just right now I'm not in that, I'm not in that capacity to—

yeah, you're shifting, you're shifting. It's not necessarily quitting. Like you say, you're just refocusing, and you can't have your energy everywhere, man. We deplete ourselves. So And it's the same thing that I had to do with C.E.M® and the Camille D. Jamerson Company. I was like, okay, what is going to be the priority now? Because I can't meet with clients face to face. I can't go on site and check out their culture and build their brand. I can't do that the same way that I would have. So yeah, you have to make those hard decisions. Now, what, what is something that people assume about you that's not true?

Oh, one of the, one of the biggest things that I'm uptight or that I'm, or that I might be a little arrogant. When they talk. Yeah, it's just, it's been, it's been, it's, it's from my, it's from my, uh, uh, uh, what do we say, teenage, post-high school years.

Uh, okay, okay, because I have never gotten that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm one of the most, I'm one of the most humblest, door-openest guys that you probably would ever meet, uh, in, in the position that I'm in. Um, people call me now when they did, man, I was, I was scared to call you for a minute.

But once they have a conversation with me, it's one of the pieces like, dang, now I have had people that said that, like, I was scared to even reach out to you. I'm like, yeah, I gotta open—

everybody know I got an open door policy. So same thing, you got a question for me in the color, if I can help you, I'm going to answer the question. What I know, not what I assume.

I know, I got, I got Facebook open now, so if any questions drop in there, I'm gonna bring them up. Okay, now let's, let's just talk about this Gripper. Let's just go right there. How, how did you come up with that? How did you capitalize on it? And what has it done to change your business? For those of y'all who don't know what the Gripper is, he's about to tell you because I've experienced it for myself and it's life-changing.

So, okay, so, so the Gripper, the Young Gripper, is the, the spice, is our version of the spicy chicken sandwich. Um, so when, when those other two companies, whose, whose name need not be said, um, we're battling, we're battling on social media, uh, I had a couple people that messaged me and said, hey dude, you need to make your chicken sandwich, put it out there. So I did that, created the chicken sandwich. I have a very strong social media follow. I dropped one picture on my Instagram page of 3 sandwiches on a black platter and said, coming tomorrow. And when I did that, they were lined up. We opened up at 11. They were lined up at 10 o'clock. Oh my God. And from that, that was last August. From that, we did the news like 3 to 4 times. Different celebrities came up and got food, different local Detroit popular people in a sense, had cats came up. Social media just pushed it like to all new heights and it has been life-changing for me business-wise too. So again, that's one of those energy shift things that you got to shift that energy to what's pulling the wagon right now.

And that's kind of the theme of this particular one. That's why I named it Get a Grip. Because you've got to know and be aware of what's happening around you so you can shift to accommodate that. Because what if you weren't ready?

Yeah.

And I see a comment in here about what the Gripper was. I hope, Renee, he answered your question, but it's this chicken sandwich. I had posted it on my page when I got it, and I was just offended at how good it was because first of all, I don't even eat like that, but I'm like, nope, this Tony, I gotta go check it out, I gotta go check it out. Went and grabbed one. I think I saw you, you were there that day. And I got one for me and I got one for my husband. Then I got home, I was like, he gotta be kidding me, I'm not gonna be going up here getting no sandwich every day. But it was, I mean, it just knocks other chicken sandwiches out of the park. And that, that's, that's no fluff, that's just real talk. I saw them put chicken in the grease, it's real food.

Yeah, we batter it, we're battering every piece so it comes on a toasted brioche bun, uh, hand-battered chicken. We make the coleslaw fresh every day. Wow. Dill pickles, pepper jack cheese, and then we got a bang sauce that goes on it.

Yes, I got that. I got the bang sauce. Now, is that the first restaurant you made?

Yeah. And so from that, it started out just as a chicken sandwich. We had to shut the entire menu down, uh, back in August, August and September. We had to shut the entire menu down and just do all chicken sandwiches. So we were doing lamb chops, macaroni, tacos, everything.

I remember that.

I had to shut it down because we couldn't keep up with the demand for the chicken sandwiches.

Oh my gosh.

People were coming from Ohio, Flint, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Chicago.

Now why, why do you think that was? Uh, we, we learned that it was a good sandwich. I mean Exactly.

Because people, us as people, we listen to what other people say, right? When it relates to food, especially something that's good. So now I'm intrigued and I want to see what the hype is about. So now if they can live up to the hype when I get there, that's just a bonus. Mm-hmm. That's a bonus bonus. And so that's what it was, being on the news, being on a lot of different blogs on social media, me having a strong social media presence myself. Word of mouth. All of those things played a factor into the, the phenom which made the, the Spicy Young Gripper success that it is today. And it's, and it's still, and it's still going strong. It went so strong that we end up getting us a food truck dedicated to the Gripper. It's called the Gripper Food Truck, and you can find it in the parking lot of Durden's Catering on Livernois and 8 Mile, right inside Baker's Keyboard Lounge. Wow.

Now the The food truck, are you still only serving the Gripper? Or have you added—

Oh, from that, yeah, we got— so now it's really crazy now. I'll start dessert up. We got peach cobbler, banana pudding, Kool-Aid, Faygo Pop, a Cajun seafood pasta salad, and a Cajun chicken pasta salad. And then we're going into the Grippers and Dippers now. So Dippers being our version of chicken tenders that we take and we got a honey drizzle on the Cajun seasoning. We got 4 different sauces you can choose from. Then we got our Catfish Gripper, which is a fried piece of catfish. I don't even know where to start. That was the second sandwich to join the team.

The catfish.

The fried catfish, yep, the fried catfish. Then we went into a grilled chicken. We went into a, the salmon, which we call the Granddaddy, dedicated to my grandfather who recently passed, but salmon was one of his favorite dishes. We got, that's a grilled salmon, and I had actually had one today. It's crazy. It's crazy, the flavors, it's crazy. And for the people who don't eat coleslaw, when you have it on a sandwich, I guarantee you it's completely different.

Different. Yeah, first time I had coleslaw on a sandwich was a corned beef sandwich, and I was like, uh, that don't— and I'm up here trying to pick it off. They were like, just taste it, and it's totally different. It really is, it's totally different. So now in, in terms of where we go from here in this post-COVID world? I mean, Tony, we, we're still feeling our way, to be honest. Yeah, feeling our way. So where— how do you plan for your business in such an uncertain world? How do you plan growth? How do you plan what your next products are going to be, or when you— when are you going to start looking at catering? What, what is the next steps? What does that look like for you?

So right now we're just taking it day by day. We're just coming out, we're just trying to come out of that food shortage piece. And where food costs just went up crazy high due to, again, due to COVID. So I'm still, I just take it day at a time. I'm just still, you know, watching the numbers that come in from the food truck, watching and talking to my fellow culinarians on a daily just to see, you know, the trends and see how we're gonna how we're going to move forward. You hear a lot about, you know, a lot of the other industries. You don't really hear anything about the event industry and what we're going to do. And so we, so we, so we're trying to pull ourselves together just to see which way is left and how we're going to react to what's going on. But I just can't see myself— you just can't tell me that it's gone and I just get back to normal, you know what I'm saying? So I, I still have to— I still got to keep my guard up in a sense. Into where I got the people who's entrusted me to guide them in business. So where, where we're at for catering, I do not know. In my head right now, 2020 has— is almost been a scrap for me because this is my prime— this is my prime time right now. I don't— this is my prime season right now, my wedding season. I did— I've usually— I'd be usually about 15 weddings in, seem like to this point and to have zero on the board. So it's like, it's not, it's not worth, it's not worth me in a sense. It may cost me more to cut my gas on and bring some people in, do the event, than the company will make. So those are decisions that I have to make as a business owner to see what makes the most sense in moving forward.

Yeah, that makes sense. I— wow, I didn't even think about it like that because weddings I mean, maybe some open houses. Open houses. I was just going to say. And then, like you said, the event industry overall, when you're looking at, gosh, conferences, workshops, expos, you know, all of the food truck parks, all the carnivals, festivals, everything that we had lined up to this point is like, nope. Geez. Wow. And the key is, as an entrepreneur, like, this is the hard part, you know? So when you hit a bump like this, how you salvage that, how you make decisions, can mean all the difference between whether you survive or you don't. Because there are a lot of businesses, Tony, and you— and, you know, we know this— that aren't coming back. They're not gonna make it back, you know? So the decisions that we make right now are gonna be critical, um, to determine whether we even make it back, um, when this is all over. So I, wow, I, I, I applaud, um, your way of thinking because, um, I hear so many people that are in such a hurry, um, to, to get back to business as normal. And I'm like, that normal is gone. It's gone. It's gone.

It's gone.

It's over. If you are not prepared to shift your business for this brand new world—

what it is right now.

Listen, now what precautions have you had to take for COVID on your truck now? I mean, are there special things that you've had to do?

Um, not, not necessarily on the truck. Uh, it's more, it's more so the, cause the lines are so— the line gets so long. I had to come up with a system. System for waiting, for the guests to wait. So that was the biggest thing. We had law enforcement come up, I had health department call me, so they just kind of, we just, I just, you know, what do you need me to do to show you that I'm trying to keep everybody safe? So I took heed to what was said to me and we've been great ever since. The health department came up, she came up yesterday, she's like, I'm just coming by checking on you, it looks good up here. I appreciate how you did. You know, anybody that knows me know that sanitation is cleanliness is one of my biggest things. So I'm going, I'm going to that area first.

Good. That's good. So, okay, we talked about future growth. We talked about decision-making. Let's talk a little bit about shifting from COVID We know about the civil unrest that's happening right now and how racism has just reared its ugly head again. Um, not that it's ever gone anywhere, but it's just been uncovered in, in different ways. Um, how important is it as Black business owners, how important is wealth and, and business ownership for the Black community?

Uh, my grandma taught me when I was, when I was very, very young about, uh, to start growing myself on financial literacy. So I've always been intrigued and I've always been, uh, keen to just saving money and investing and putting money up because we have to have our own backs. Yeah, the system isn't designed for us. The system isn't designed for our success, so we have to create Black wealth. We have to be the ones who carry on our legacies. We have to be the ones who leave an inheritance. We have to be the ones who teach our children. We have to be the ones who teach each other about— it's not always about, you know, we like to go get free. Prime example, we like to all go get fresh. We like to stay in the mall. We like to go get, you know, sweet, whatever the case. But when something happens to us, now we have to, you know, set up a GoFundMe account, or we have to sell a chicken dinner when we could have shifted just a little bit of that energy. It doesn't take much, a little bit of that energy, uh, $29 a month into setting up the future for your, for your children.

Yeah.

So that, that's the biggest thing I try to teach my people, especially young people. Uh, in my age bracket and under me, like, dude, get some life insurance. Tomorrow is not promised. Come on, get the life insurance. Nobody expected COVID to hit like how it did.

Yep.

Nobody expect— nobody expected this.

Yeah.

Or nobody expected— nobody expected to go to the store and, and get their knee on the neck and die. You know what I'm saying? Listen, come on, it's not expected. So As crazy as, as, as life gets, we have to do what we can to secure ourselves and secure our families.

That's good.

It's only fair. It's only fair.

And I like the part where you were talking about financial literacy because that's where it starts. Um, there are things that I am just now learning about, um, how to transfer wealth and how to glean wealth, different, um, tax holes and stuff that I can put in place for my business to help my tax bracket. There are things that, that others have known, you know, just because that information is passed down, but we don't know it, so we can't pass it down. So now I'm trying to teach my kids, and they're, they're grown and adults, but as I get information and I'm passing it down to them so they can pass it to my grandkids and they can be just that much more ahead. So how do we, how do we, how do we teach financial literacy? How do we become more responsible people when it comes to money?

I, I, what I truly think, and I know that has worked for a few people around me, um, when they see you do it, that's good. It's always, it's, it's easier seeing someone that's around me do something that I want to do versus me looking on TV and seeing some I see somebody do it, right? So if I— so if I know Camille firsthand, I say, hey, I was just with Camille, we was just at the skating rink, whatever the case, and now she doing X, Y, and Z, let me ask her what she did so I can get— so I want to be in that same position. I'm still— that's good, you know what I'm saying? So, so for me, I think that's the biggest thing, the power of influence that you have on people around you.

That's good.

Each one, each one.

Actually, to my daughter, because like I was telling you when we were talking before, um, my daughter is a traveler and she's single. And when people see her pictures and whatever, they're like, how is she doing that? How is she able to go there? How is she able to do this? And, but they don't realize the sacrifices on the backend that she makes in order to do what it is that she does, how she saves, how she's learned how to do certain things herself, how, I mean, she's not out there running after the latest fad, you know, she's got money put away. She's got a life insurance policy. She's, you know, and, and I think that sometimes example probably is the best teacher. So I totally agree with that. And I think we have to share more.

Yeah.

So people know how we get what we get. They don't just—

it falls down tree in my backyard and I go grab it when I want to get it. That part is the, is the, is the And, you know, it just doesn't happen overnight. It's the work, it's the work that gets put in. It didn't, it doesn't happen overnight. You have to, and I tell people this all the time, I tell my staff this all the time, you have to develop the boss's mentality. And so what I mean by the boss's mentality is that if you see yourself being in a position that the boss is in, you have to adapt to some of the practices in which he's doing or she's doing, right? So if you're scheduled to be at work at 9 o'clock, right, and you know, you know, you've seen the day before that something that needs to be done, get there a little early, get that knocked out of the way, right? Because as the boss, you look at that, you know what I'm saying? Okay, I'm seeing the dedication develop, I'm seeing this happen, I'm seeing this person doing this. So So that way, now when I get my next project, I watch you grow. Here, here goes the business, and here's 40% of that business as well. That's how it starts.

That's it.

But we don't, but we don't want to, but, but us as people, we don't want to put that work and we think it happens overnight and we think we're supposed to be in the position that the boss is in because we're seeing what the business is doing but not seeing the back end of the business.

Come on. And that's exactly what Muggle Moments is. It's really showing that back end because I don't want people to think I just arrived on the scene. I'm like, nah, y'all weren't with me when I was shooting in the gym, when I was working 60, 70, 80 hours a week for somebody else, making them wealthy, you know, and watching and learning from them, you know. And then, you know, I took what I learned to help build my own business. But even that didn't happen overnight, you know? And they see the now, but they don't see the backstory. And so I think you're right. Someone said in the comments too that people have to be willing to share their story. And I think that is so true. We have to do better about passing on information. People have to be willing to receive it and listen, but we also have to be willing to share it because I know a lot of people that just think, Hey, I got— I'm going to school, I'm gonna get my degree, I'm gonna come out and I'm gonna make six figures. Lies. That is not how it—

line me up, I'll go back right quick for you.

I don't care what degree it is. No, just— that's not how it happens. You got to put in some sweat equity. And, um, that's the part that sometimes we as a people don't share enough about. Um, it's not It, it can be who you know. Education plays a piece in it, but twist it not, there is no hack for hard work.

Nope.

You, you just have to grind. You gotta grind.

And another piece too is like, again, I might have said already, just people don't want to put in the work that it takes. They just don't want to. That everybody, everybody wants to be in business for themselves today but didn't, didn't go to work yesterday.

Yesterday, come on, come on. So, and not willing to watch the people that have already done it.

Yeah, so I'm trying to, I'm trying to, I'm trying to teach you the mistakes that I made already.

That's it, so you don't make them.

But you think you already know what you're doing.

Going on out there, as they say, going on out there. Hard head make a soft behind, won't it? So, okay, um, guys, if you have any questions, please drop them in the comments. Um, I'll definitely go back and grab those. I only got a couple more. We've only got about 20 more minutes, if that, so I want to make certain that we get them in if you have some questions. So, um, one of the things that I wanted to ask you too, um, has Durrton's found a way to have kind of a philanthropic arm? Is there a way that you found to give back to the community?

Always, always, always, always. Anytime that my phone rings, whether it be a church— during COVID we fed the front lines numerous of times, offered discounts to the front lines, offered just a helping hand wherever we can. Yeah, I'm always looking to— for the betterment of my people, for sure.

That's good. Are there some, um, causes or, um, or organizations that you want to support in the future, or that you want to just put out there that we have our listeners, um, look into supporting?

Uh, so around Christmas time, for sure, uh, one year my son had got sick on Christmas Day and he had to go down to the children's hospital that morning. That's when we found out he had asthma. Um, and so what really stuck out to my wife is that they gave— they came in and gave him a lot of toys. So that's one thing that she tries to do and make way to do, uh, since that happened.

That's nice. Yeah, and you know, it's those personal moments that change you forever. For us, It was hospice, because I will never forget the hospice care that my dad received right before he passed. And it just gave me a new outlet, a new outlook on those people and how they serve during such a rough time. And so from that point, our family foundation tries to give back to hospice care. So I know totally what you mean. Um, when you are involved and engaged, you never forget those who stepped up and made a difference, um, during that particular time. So when you get ready to do that, you make sure you give me a shout out. I definitely want to, um, be a part of that. Last question. So if you guys got some questions in there, drop them in the, drop them in the comments. No hack for hard work. Yes, that's right, Renee. Um, I, I totally agree. There is no hack. And people are always talking about life hack this and life hack that. And okay, fine. There can be some tips and strategies to make things a little easier, but twist and knot, hard work is hard work and it's required by us all. Um, okay, last question. Are there any books that you are reading or want to recommend?

I'm not really a big reader. Yeah, that's crazy. I'm not really a big reader. Um, I've read, I've read, I've read the last probably series of books that I've read Rich Dad Poor Dad series. I'm just always— I'm always— yeah, I'm always trying to just, again, some more financial literacy pieces. Yeah. Um, I got a tithe— a tithe book that I'm a tither, so I got a tithe book that I read. But I'm not really— I'm not really a novelist. My wife— my wife reads. I'm not really— as soon as I start reading, even when I read with the kids, as soon as— it can be middle of the day, as soon as I start reading I start yawning. I had to read so much in college, I promise you, soon as I start reading now, I start yawning.

Wow.

Yeah, it can be—

it can be—

look, it can be pop-up pick-a-boo, and soon as that mug—

so tired.

I'll listen, I'll listen. I'm a big listener. I'll pull up stuff and listen to to it all the time. But me actually sitting and reading the book, I tried. To this day, I still try, and it's just— it—

I don't know what it is. I'm so offended.

I'm not— I'm not— I'm not even gonna sit up here and lie to you, trying to make it like—

I'm not gonna play that.

Yeah, I almost— I almost said— I almost said check out the Bernstein Brothers.

That's the guy. I know who the Bernstein Brothers are. Like, my kids got that book at the garage.

Yeah.

I can't. But you know what? When you're a parent, though, of small kids, too, you change. That whole season for me is a blur as far as reading. I am positive that I wasn't reading nearly as much as I am now because I ain't have time.

You know? Exactly. And that's my biggest thing.

Yeah, I don't have time. And I was busy reading stuff, trying to understand their homework and help them with this, that, and the other. So I'm gonna give you a pass on that. I'll give you a pass on that.

And look, and I got, and I got a crazy book, I got a crazy bookshelf too.

See, that's right.

And I, every now and again, I go back and say, try to blow the dust off of it. Yeah, I'll pull, I'll pull one out if it's something, uh, within the industry that I'm trying to refer refresh myself on. Like, I got a, I got a meat buyer. I just put out my meat buyer's guide, uh, the other day, just trying to figure out what cut of meat came from on the cow because it was no, it wasn't no, uh, it wasn't any beef out here. So I was trying to see if I could, if I could use the shoulder that the same place I used the cow butt for.

Wow. Yeah, now I didn't think about that. You would have to read industry books, so that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, and I do a lot of that. You hit on something that I want to back up to just a little bit, um, because we didn't, we didn't talk about this. Um, you mentioned the fact that you're a tither, and, um, I, I know you to be a person of faith, and so am I. So can you just speak a little bit about how your faith has influenced your business?

Um, so for me, and it's just what I've got on my side, I don't know where I'll be. And that's, and that's, that's business, that's business, personal, and reality. Um, it's just, that's something, that's, that's whom I lean on, that when I, when I'm lost. Yeah, it's how I came up, how I grew up. I can't explain my relationship with God, but just tell you, that's my— that's everything to me. Um, And so I'm, I'm very faith-driven, um, and I just believe that if I stop tithing or stop doing something, uh, for the body of Christ, then I believe my world stops. You know what I'm saying? So like my increase, my favor, my grace, my mercy It's tied. Yeah, yeah, it's tied to, uh, giving. Um, so that's, that's it for me. Like, I can't really, I can't really put that in a bottle for you.

Uh, oh, I know that's real time.

It's just I can't afford not to tithe.

Yep, that's— my husband says that all the time.

Say I can't afford to tithe, I can't afford not to.

That's it. Because I know so much of, um, what I've seen and considered blessings have been tied to, to my giving. And it's— and the piece that people don't understand, it's not about how much, because everybody is, is on a level playing field. The same thing, 10% is 10% is 10%, whether it's 10% of the $10 you make or the 10% of the $100,000 I made, 10% is 10%. So it's the same, um, amount to a degree for everyone. But I think more importantly than the amount, it's the obedience, you know, it's the obedience. And, um, if one of the things my dad used to say is that if God can entrust you with money, um, then he knows he can put more in your hands and it won't change who you are, and he can use you as a conduit to help and to serve and to employ and to do, um, things that need to be done to fund the body of Christ and to help those around you. Um, so when I, I know that there are people, you know, in my circle that aren't necessarily people of faith, and I just look at them like, how do y'all—

how, how do you do it? How do you survive? I, I wouldn't know which way is left.

I wouldn't either. I wouldn't either. I, I, I, I have— I would have no clue I would be incoherent just right about now, um, if it, if it wasn't for God. So, um, let me— people are talking about I can't afford not to tithe, right? It's like, it's the truth, it's the, it's the truth all day. And, and I know her to be a person of faith too, so, um, faith does play a big part in my success, and I'm, I'm glad to hear that it plays, um, a big role in your success. So before I let you go, is there anything else you want to share or talk about anything you got coming up that you want people to know? I do want you to share again how people can find you, where you are and what you got on the menu.

Got it. So yeah, so we're located 20504 Livernois. That is @TheGripperFoodTruck. You can pull that up on Facebook, Instagram, all that good stuff. We're open 11 o'clock now. I'm getting ready to shift the hours now a bit, so we're open at 11 o'clock and we're closing at about 6. Might push it to about 7 o'clock or so, just trying to, you know, ease it on the staff. And you can get you a catfish gripper, a salmon gripper. Again, the gripper is the line of our sandwich. That's what we call all of our sandwiches, just called grippers.

Okay.

We got some Cajun pasta salad that's amazing, banana pudding peach cobbler made daily. Um, check us out. Great atmosphere, great food truck. The new— it's the new wave. The food trucks are taking over. And so that's, again, that's one of the pieces that I'm leaning towards. Like, like, hey, okay, let's kind of like, you know, shift into it. Yeah, let's just kind of shift. Um, yeah, check us out daily. Derby's Catering.

Now, do you look to— do you look to move the truck around, or you kind of like that central location?

So right now, again, I'm on that. I'm getting the cost too. I'm on that, like that—

Lean.

Yeah, like, ah, does it make sense? Because this is our only location right now.

Yeah.

So financially, does it make sense? It has to make sense for us to leave. And it's keeping up with the demand, right? Because I told you, we use the— we use the building to push everything out of because demand is so crazy. So if we was to pack the truck up and leave, I would have to almost have a follow-up in one of the catering trucks with all of the stuff that we would have inside of the building because it's— it's not—

okay. Yeah. So your— the building serves as kind of a prep area.

Yeah.

Everything.

Yeah.

Woo!

Yeah.

Awesome. Well, all right, Tony, I'm going to let you go. Thank you so, so much for taking this time out to talk to me. This has been so fun. I knew you were going to bring it.

Thanks for having me.

Oh, please, it's my pleasure. I am so, so incredibly proud of all that you have done and are doing, will do. And I'm glad I got you on the ground floor so I could just get behind you and push, um, you on to greater things. So thanks again for joining me. Hey precious! Hey baby, how you doing? Good. Well, welcome to Vocal Moments, honey. We glad to have you too.

He's been trying to jump on since I got on.

I already know, that's how they do. But you know what, I love it, I love it, because that's what it's all about. That's why we do what we do. It's them right there. Listen, I know it for myself. Well, all right, but I'm gonna let you go. Thanks so much for joining. I appreciate you.

Get a grip.

All right, everybody, thank you so much for joining me on Facebook Live and, um, for our season 3, episode 3, Get a Grip. I hope you guys enjoyed that time with Tony. I know I did. I loved hearing all about his business, how he's had to make shifts in his decision-making about what, what his business looks like going forward with COVID-19 and how he's had to kind of change his way of thinking midstream. So even the thing that you started out doing in business, you may not end up doing in business. You might have to make some changes, make some shifts, and do something different while still keeping your passion intact. And I know that's hard. I know it's difficult. I'm making those same types of decisions every day. But as an entrepreneur and the potential mogul that you want to be, we might as well start learning how to make those decisions now. Because soon, and very soon, you'll be making those decisions for multiple businesses across multiple industries. Across multiple continents. How about that? So, um, you might as well learn what it is we need to learn at this level so when we take it to the next level, we've already got, um, templates and best practices in place and we know how to operate, um, at that level. So thanks again for joining Mogul Moments. It's been such, um, a really cool time having you guys, um, our Next Mogul Moment will be next week, Tuesday the 23rd. And we will be talking to Renee Williams, who is on the comments right now. So you guys give her a shout out. We'll be talking about her business, Cocobella Natural. And I think the title was Just Do You. And there's a reason behind that.. But we're going to be talking about how you infiltrate an already crowded market. If you think you want to start a business and you're like, oh my God, there's so many people that are already doing X, Y, and Z and blah, blah, blah. How am I going to infiltrate that market? Renee was faced with that same type of decision, and she's going to share with you kind of her strategy, what she's been doing. And how she's been able to catapult her business and her brand. So you want to be sure that you tune in next week for that. I cannot wait to talk to you, girl. We're going to have a blast. So you guys make sure you come back too so you can catch that awesome conversation. So thanks again for joining Mogul Moments. Again, I'm your host, Camille D. Jamerson. This has been powered by The Camille Company, and we will be back next week. Talk to y'all later.

Bye.