Meet Shannon Bradford of Sandusky

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Bradford

Hi Shannon, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We started our food truck on a whim in 2016. My husband, Jorge, and I had just arrived to the US after a few years backpacking through South America (in fact, we met in a kareoke bar in Chile as two backpackers just passing through). We weren’t sure if we would stay in the US or keep traveling elsewhere, but one night, the idea for a food truck hit us like a lightning bolt. We went from concept to execution in two months, which is a breakneck pace for how many things need to be done while launching a new business. We made so many mistakes along the way. But the positive feedback outweighed the challenges, and we worked hard to reach new customers every year. After five years in business, we decided to build out a second food truck to reach even more customers. We’ve been happily plugging away with our crew and two trucks, sharing the joy of empanadas and grass-fed beef with everyone we meet.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s not been a smooth road, but it’s been a very clear road – in the sense that, while entrepreneurship is difficult, it’s the only path for us. We have had almost every obstacle imaginable, from accidentally tipping over a fryer before boarding a ferry to the islands, to equipment and food truck breakdowns, to inclement weather ruining our biggest sales days, etc. I think every small business owner struggles to find that balance between business and personal/family time. It’s both a blessing and a curse that we operate a seasonal business. Unfortunately, when we’re in high season, it’s very hard to switch to off mode, because there are only so many days in the season for us to make our money. But then we get the winter to ourselves, which is lovely. There are a lot of times where we feel like we want to quit, simply due to the sheer amount of work involved in running a successful business. But we know that we wouldn’t be happy doing anything else.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My husband and I run an Argentinian/American food truck called The Gaucho & The Gringa. My husband is from Argentina (he’s the gaucho) and I’m from Ohio (the gringa). We prioritize creating high quality, locally-sourced food. We only use grass-fed, grass-finished beef, sourced from a local family farm (Circle P Limousin Farm). We’re best known for our empanadas, hand-cut fries, and grass-fed burgers, all of which have won awards in our area. We’ve been voted the #1 food truck for the past several years.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I knew from a young age that I wanted to run my own business. I never was sure what business exactly, though. I was gifted academically, and began writing from a young age as well. These interests have served me well in running my own business, where a co-owner often has to wear all the hats – marketing and social media content, HR, accounting, inventory, and so much more.

Jorge’s childhood couldn’t have been more different from mine. He was raised deep in rural Argentina on his family farm, where he often built his own toys from spare farm parts and helped raise race horses, pigs, goats, chickens, cows and more. While I played SNES in northern Ohio in the early 90s, he hunted pumas and armadillos in the brushland of San Luis.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://gauchogringa.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegauchothegringa
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/thegauchothegringa