Let’s talk about work.
I got my first real job as a senior in high school.
I say real job because as a kid I did every odd activity I could to make money — from betting my grandpa $5 I could beat him in his favorite video game (pretty sure he let me win), to nursing a weak fawn back to health for a local deer ranch.


The first real job I had was working in Uncle Louie G’s Italian Ice food truck. This was a brand new food truck, started up by a New Yorker (Jeff) who wanted to bring this Brooklyn-originated treat to the people of Austin, TX. At first, I had no idea what to expect. After all, my friend found this job on Craigslist and convinced me to join her working there. But I was eager to start making some money, as I was about to graduate and head off to college.
Being that I was entering the workforce, you would have thought my parents would’ve been excited for me. However, at the time the truck was located on Rainey Street (a popular bar strip in ATX) from 8pm to 3am on the weekends. I was 17 years old at the time, so this worried my parents a bit. But being the persuasive and determined individual I am, I was able to convince them to let me borrow one of their cars so that I could start my frozen dessert venture.

My responsibilities starting out were fairly simple. Customers told me what flavor of ice they wanted, I scooped that flavor, and I took their payment. But there was this entire other side to the job that had nothing to do with serving food or running the register — and that was creating connections with people. Every night I worked I’d meet someone new and share a moment with them. A woman from the East Coast would tell me how excited she was to have Uncle Louie G’s in Austin. Another would tell me how the rainbow flavor reminded him of the Bomb Pops he would eat growing up. Others would just laugh with me about some ridiculous scene they had just witnessed in the bar they came from.
No matter what the exact situation, I always felt very lucky to have so many great interactions with friendly people while working.
At the time I was extremely satisfied with the job, but didn’t even realize how much better it would get. After a month or two on Rainey Street, Jeff decided we were going to start placing the truck at events. This was a solid business move — because although we were doing fine on Rainey with the after-hour crowds, it made more sense to serve these cold desserts earlier in the day when it was hotter and to a more diverse range of people.
This transition was one of the best things that could’ve happened. Not only was I excited that our sales were picking up, but I also had a blast working these events. We worked at concerts, outdoor cinema nights, and even the famous “Keep Austin Weird” festival.

As a lover of music, movies, and really anything out of the ordinary — this was some of the most fun I’ve ever had working. In addition, I was able to do this with a fantastic group of people. My boss Jeff (being the cool guy he is) was particular about hiring people that would fit the culture he was trying to cultivate with the food truck. We had a small staff at ULG’s, but everyone that worked there was very friendly and extremely entertaining. It was a group of not only capable workers, but also people who knew the value of developing quality relationships with those you worked with.

Initially, this was only supposed to be a post-high school, pre-college summer job for some quick cash. However even after I moved away for college, I kept coming back time and time again during fall and winter breaks and the following summers for two more years.
As my time and experience increased at Uncle Louie G’s, I started to gain more responsibility within other aspects of the business. Being one of the first employees of the truck, I had insight into what worked and what didn’t. I was able to aid in advertising and marketing by handling photography at events, creating flyers and discount vouchers to attract new customers, and updating social media to let customers know when and where they could find our truck. I also participated in the hiring and training process of new employees — making sure that the people we brought on would be the right fit for our amazing crew. In addition, I was able to get experience working with clients who rented our truck for particular company events, which allowed me to develop valuable professional skills in communication and reliability.
One of the greatest lessons I learned from this job was value of saying “yes” to new opportunities — especially in the beginning. Because our food truck was so new, a big part of our work was simply getting exposure. Everyone who tried our Italian ice loved the product and loved our service, but many people in Austin still didn’t know who we were. We needed momentum, so we said “yes” to a wide variety of things. And even though every now and then an event would turn out to be a bust, more often than not, we were able to connect with someone at that event who would turn us on to a new opportunity somewhere else.

Although I’ve worked many different jobs in the last few years, I still look back to my summers at Uncle Louie G’s with fond memories and a great deal of gratitude. Being able to have such an incredible experience at my first job provided me with a solid foundation of what doing good work with good people felt like. I still remain connected with my past coworkers and boss, all of whom I now consider to be good friends, and I hold on tight to the principles of business I learned while working in the food truck.
