Meet Adam Cardenas

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Adam Cardenas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Adam below.

Hi Adam , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I got my work ethic, predominantly from my father who immigrated here from Mexico, at the age of 13. Although he lacked a proper support system, he overcame the odds through a unwavering dedication to working, saving and investing. Him being a man of few words choosing to lead by example showed me the value of taking full advantage of the day and understanding that a 8 hour work day wasn’t enough to make it in this world so 12-15 hour work days became the standard.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

My business started off as a dream wanting to spend as much time as I possibly could inside the kitchen. Understanding that the bills needed to be paid and that my minimum wage job as a line cook wasn’t going to be enough I needed to venture out into becoming an owner of my own operation. Slowly over the past three years, I’ve grown from a pop up using two small gas, powered ovens that cost me less than $1000 to a fleet of woodfired pizza trailers and a woodfired pizza food truck. We have catered across the Los Angeles area as well have done numerous fundraisers for the local schools in my area. My goal is to create the best tasting pizza I can at a price that everyone can comfortably afford and enjoy

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I guess the three most important qualities for my type of business would be networking/positive attitude, resilience, and consistency
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In the food truck industry it’s incredibly competitive, and having strong relationships with people in my same field helps a ton with finding busy events and affordable products, and trust worthy vendors to buy from

The food industry is very up and down one month you can’t keep up with demand, and the next your having to throw out your fresh mozzarella because it’s been a been slow, being resilient is very important because it’s not always going to be easy. And you have to push through those bad months

Talking about food consistency is everything if someone orders a Pizza on Monday it’s got a taste the same when they order it on Sunday. Stick to a small menu that you can turn around quickly which helps keep everything fresh and efficient

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I truly believe that there is no such thing as a self-made man. If it wasn’t for the opportunities my parents gave me growing up, if it wasn’t for my amazing team and manager Alondra in the trenches with me, and if it wasn’t for my mentor Michele teaching me the ways of Pizza, I wouldn’t have what I have today. I believe we are the sum of the people around us and when you surround yourself with amazing people great things can happen.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @adamzpizzastop
• Yelp: Adamz Pizza Stop

Image Credits

@lapuenteeats / Joe Bautista