We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wes (Eli) Scoggins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Wes (Eli), we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I think a part of it is that I haven’t really had a lot of opportunities to not be resilient. I think that life has provided me challenges, and the downside has been everything i’ve lost, whether in natural disasters, or loss of family members, or my personally struggles with my mental health, I had the opportunity to either keep going, or to give up, and if I give up then for me it can feel like the struggle meant nothing, at least if I persist then my pain had an outcome that provides me something else, an opportunity to change and grow.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My name is Wes Scoggins, a chef and the founder of Jewish Cowboy, a pop-up that blends Jewish and Texan cuisines. I was born in San Antonio, and lived half my life in Texas where I learned to appreciate the rich culinary traditions of both sides of my family, my Texan father and my Jewish mother.
Jewish Cowboy started as a way to cope with the challenges of the pandemic and the tornado that hit East Nashville in 2020. I was working as a kitchen manager at the time, but our sales were struggling and I needed to do something different. I decided to create a pop-up that showcased my unique culture and history growing up. The response was overwhelming. We sold out in less than two hours on our first night! People loved my food and connected with my story.
Some of the dishes from Jewish Cowboy pop-ups, including za’atar fried chicken, cornbread latkes, smoked floral hummus, pistachio-goatcheese cheesecake, bischocos, cardamom Texas-style sheetcake, and more.
I have been working in the food industry for several years now, and I have had the opportunity to work with new restaurants, do more pop-ups, and constantly improve my skills and knowledge.
In 2022, I helped launch Pinky Ring Pizza in Madison, where I built a from-scratch kitchen, full menu and culinary team. From that we got voted as one of the best new Restaurants in town by The Tennessean, and we developed a loyal customer base.
That experience, along with my previous cooking, managing and creating pop-ups, gave me the confidence and the know-how to finally push to make my own spot permanent.
So I am currently running a grassroots fundraising campaign to help raise funds to get that started, and I hope to be doing things regularly in my own place before the end of the year.
If anyone wants to check out my Kickstarter and hear some more of what I have planned they can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jewishcowboy/jewish-cowboy-a-jewish-southern-experience
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Grit is way more important than innate talent. Learning how to persist and keep going is going to open up a lot more doors for you. Learning to be persistent and constantly practice and grow your skills is just a muscle you need to push, it isn’t something you are born with, it is something you can develop.
Know what is special about you, you have had experiences and a background that no one else has because no one else is you. Look inside at what you value and what makes you feel excited and passionate, because other people will see how excited you are about it.
And never ever let anyone try to kill your Curiousity, always be curious and open to learning, if you close yourself off from new experiences and don’t look at new people as someone to be respected and learned from, you are cutting yourself off from growth.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I always seek to work with other people who are passionate about things, infectious passion is one of the greatest things you can have in a teammate or collaborator.
Once you find the people in your life full of passion, curiousity, and kindness it is hard for them to be stopped, and if they are, not for long.
Good people make you better because they will pull you forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jewishcowboy/jewish-cowboy-a-jewish-southern-experience
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jewishcowboynashville
- Other: https://linktr.ee/JewishCowboy
Image Credits
Audrey Marie Bennett/Seemly & Spruce
