We were lucky to catch up with Kunal Parwani recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kunal, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.
I’ve been a developer and now am a data analyst, also running the social media for Karachi Kabab Boiz – I face blocks in every aspect, creative when it comes to the social media and logical/problem solving blocks during my day job.
What was worked repeatedly for me is to walk away, mentally and physically from the problem you’re trying to solve. I often get breakthrough ideas after a nap, shower, or just a drive.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I run a food business in NYC with two of my friends called Karachi Kabab Boiz – we do authentic charcoal grilled Pakistani BBQ rolls. We love grilling and we love our food, and wanted to share that as many people as we can! Our meat (chicken, beef) are marinated 24-48 hours, grilled on a bed of coals and wrapped up in a flaky paratha with onions and a chutney. We have a food cart mostly on 2825 Jackson Ave, LIC but we move around a lot for quite a few concerts, music events, qawali events etc.
We recently participated in a 24 hours Ragas Live Music festival at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn – we vended for all 24 hours! Me, my wife and Azhar (co-founder/friend) pulled a 28 hour shift. It was a surreal experience for us and I believe we made over 60 gallons of chai!
We’re slowly expanding our menu, recently added a Garlic Mayo sauce and a Spicy Mayo sauce. We’re hoping to expand by including merch, having a grilling podcast, and have another cart for biryani/fries
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Know what you’re getting into — we only had grilling and cooking experience at home, all 3 of us have been grilling for years! But, did not know much about running a food business – so everything that we learnt we learnt as we went.
2) Consistency — when we first started we were setting up shop @ Queens Night Market every Saturday. When we moved to doing our food cart, we were not consistent at all! We would do a couple of days a week, slowly building that up to 3, 4 and now 6 days a week. I believe its important to be consistent in your efforts in whichever endeavor you are pursuing. If you’ve thought that its worth starting, then it must also be worth seeing it all the way through
3) Self belief — It’s very easy to waver and have self doubt in terms of your business. At the end of the day, you have to believe that your product or the service you’re providing is something you as a consumer yourself would be willing to purchase. We eat our rolls every day lol!
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Yes, always! On multiple fronts, we are open to:
– cater/vend at events, pop ups, concerts
– work with other content creators and social media personas
– collab with venues to host pop-ups/game nights/music nights etc
– open to talk with other food business owners
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karachikababboiz/
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
