LLE Summer 2020 - Janine Geddis
“One of those moments that just felt right”
Dock grad Janine Geddis (’11) took a step toward her dream with the purchase of a food truck last summer—and she’s not looking back.
Janine (Powis) Geddis (’11) remembers the night she got the idea to operate her own food truck like it was yesterday. “I was working at a bakery/deli that had just reopened after being remodeled,” she said. “The new owners would not let me try my recipes or ideas—they wouldn’t let me make something as simple as mac-and-cheese because they ‘wanted to make sure it was done right.’ I knew I needed to get out of there and do my own thing, but I didn’t know how.”
Her husband, Eric, came home from work, sensed her frustration, and suggested the idea of a food truck. “It was like fireworks went off in my head,” she said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about the idea—it was one of those moments that just felt right.”
So she began to do some research. Where would she get the truck from? Does she buy new or used? Truck, or trailer? After hours and hours of online research and phone calls, Janine settled on United Food Trucks, a custom outfitter based in Miami, FL. She made her first call to them in February of 2019, and her truck was delivered roughly three months later. Her first day selling from the truck was June 26, 2019.
She named the truck the “Winni Wagon,” because she planned to make it a fixture in the recreational areas around Lake Winnipesaukee, the largest lake in New Hampshire.
She decided to operate the truck part-time the first season, and so she kept her jobs as a cook at Ames Farm Inn, a lakefront resort, and nearby Lakeport Landing Marina. “I didn’t take a paycheck from the truck because I wanted it to earn as much money as possible,” she said. “There was not a lot of sleep during that time, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
There were lots of lessons learned in her first season with the truck. For a few events she ordered too much food—but it forced her to be creative. “For example, I had a lot of leftover thawed-out burgers that could not be refrozen, so I turned them into meatballs,” she said. “My goal is to have little to no waste, and for my first season, I did pretty well with that. I can’t recall a time when I threw out a large amount of food.” She also notes in her food truck calendar so she would remember for this year what those events were like.
“I absolutely love my food truck because it’s mine,” Janine says. “The food truck is just the first step to what I want to do. My big dream is to own my own café one day, and continue using the food truck for catering events.”
Starting up her own business definitely wasn’t easy, and there were quite a few speed bumps, especially with permits and licenses. “I was excited but scared when the dream started becoming a reality,” Janine said. “But thankfully I had support from Eric, my mom and dad (Shirley and Mark Powis, pictured above right), and my family and friends who all believed in me. I strongly believe that goals in life should excite you and scare you at the same time, because if they scare you that means you’re taking a chance rather than playing it safe.”
Visit the Winni Wagon Food Truck online at winniwagonfoodtruck.com
How Janine designed the look of the truck—and why the name was a winner
When she first bought the truck, Janine planned to name it the "Winni Waffle Wagon." Now, she's glad she reconsidered.
"I didn’t like the idea of being stuck serving waffles," she said. "I wanted to be able to try a variety of different foods." So the name was shortened to Winni Wagon, with "Winni" being short for Lake Winnipesaukee, where Janine lives and the resort area the truck serves. "Not having a theme has really paid off," she added. "When there are multiple [food truck] vendors at an event, the organizers want a variety of food. They don't want all the trucks selling the same thing. A more general name allows the Winni Wagon to gain access to events that a truck with a more specific theme might be excluded from.
The Winni Wagon benefits from having a generic name, but it can also tailor its menu around a specific theme. "For example my last event was Pumpkin Fest in downtown Laconia," Janine said. "They asked if I would do a pumpkin theme, and I sold out of everything that day. It allowed me to experiment, try new things, and broaden my cooking abilities."
Janine wanted the design of the truck to be rustic, with meaningful design touches related to both the lake and to her personally. "The logo itself is pretty much what you see when you look at the lake—trees, water, boats, mountains," she said. In the wood-like vinyl that wraps around the truck are figures that relate to the lake, but also have special meaning for Janine. There is a campfire, trees, canoe, bear print, moose, sail boat, loon, anchor, boat oars, an eagle, and a howling wolf. The last two were specifically chosen by Janine. "The eagle represents my pet bird, Fruit Loop, who is a sun conure (parakeet), and the howling wolf represents my Siberian Husky, Maya—who indeed is a howler."
