Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cliemourne Spence. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cliemourne , thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
My optimism comes from several key places. Chief of which is my faith. I believe that everyday is another opportunity to take on life and make it as full and meaningful as possible. Life is extremely challenging but it is also immensely rewarding and shouldn’t be taken for granted. I remember being taught how difficult it is for a mother to carry a child in her womb. A journey that comes with so much pain and agony for the mother. At the end of 9 months, however, the gift of that new born baby easily outweighs all the pain that came prior. Optimism is important for me, because it means holding on to something greater than the struggles and failures that can overtake us most of the time.
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?
So for us, we are focused on getting our brand “Mr.Pimento Food Wagons” to be a premier supplier of authentic Jamaican street food flavor in Austin, Texas. The hope is that we can do this and open up other locations in the future throughout Texas. We have a simple menu which is intentional so that we can deliver a consistent product that people can count on. In addition to our food trailer location we are planning to transition into the catering space. We want to cater for corporations that understand the value in feeding its people as a means to boost and uphold high morale.
We started the Mr.Pimento journey about a year ago with a pop up tent concept. We went all around Austin and surrounding cities to apartment complexes, corporate sites and food parks to have people to try our food. It has been quite a learning experience. Along the way we have had our fair share of ups and downs, from our run in with the health department informing us of the tedious process to get licenses and permits, to securing our spot at our current location at the Buzz Mill. Most recently, the hit on our in person foot traffic due to the sweltering heat has been one of the hardest lessons.
With all of what we have been through, we cling very tightly to our vision as mentioned above. We realize that it won’t come overnight but with much persistence. It has been highly encouraging to see the positive reception from the public about our food. People love the work we do and above all they love the flavor.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three areas that turns out to be of the greatest value on this journey:
*Business Acumen – With a career that spanned over ten years in retail, I was given a lot of the preparation to undertake running my own business.
*Out Of the Box Thinking/Innovative – As a whole, we pride ourselves in approaching our problems/ideas from perspectives that we feel may be unexplored. We believe this is one of the ways we will rise to stay ahead of the competition.
*Willingness to Learn – We feel strongly about the way we want to do things yet, at the same time, we are willing to face when we are wrong and need to pivot for the success of our business. We are students of our industry and realize we have so much to learn and so many to learn from.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
This can be a question with many answers. We believe that the women in our lives have been the some of the greatest contributors to who we are as individuals today. In and out of business. We think specifically of our Mothers but the list also includes my wife and grandmother.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mrpimento.square.site
- Instagram: @mrpimento
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MrPimentoTX/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mr-pimento-austin
- Other: http://mrpimentonews.beehiiv.com – This is a link to our newsletter.
Image Credits
Pictures are credited to Starchef.
