Well, we are crushing that myth that plant-based food
has to be just twigs and berries.
Our vegan junk food
is unlike anything you've ever had before.
Whether it's our juicy Clucker,
a double-dip fried chicken sandwich... Mm. We got that.
...our award-winning Coney Island chili cheese dogs
with the hand-cut Cajun fries,
or a fat, juicy burger dripping with
our creamy cheddar cheese sauce. Yum!
Don't forget to finish it off
with one of our sweet nectar milkshakes.
The Bumbling Bee Junk Food and Burger Bar
is the new generation of fast food.
Whether you're dairy-free, vegan,
vegetarian or flexitarian --
Or just a little herbivore-curious.
[ Both laugh ]
Both: There's something for everyone.
And, now, our mom is our queen bee. That's me.
But we do need some more honey to help us
pollinate hives across the country. Sharks...
Both: To "bee" or not to "bee"? That is the question.
-Aha. -[ Laughs ] Cute.
You've got some rapping skills there, don't you?
[ Both laugh ]
Hang on. This is all vegan?
Yes. Cassandra: All of that is vegan.
100%. Every bit.
-Oh, my God. -Yay!
The mac and cheese is really good.
We have won the award for Best Hot Dog in our area.
And I don't mean Best Vegan Hot Dog.
We won Best Hot Dog. India: Hot dog.
But it's not your hot dog. You must get...
It's not our hot dog. It's what we do with it.
We put our magic spin on it.
So tell us about the restaurant.
Absolutely. We have two restaurants.
India runs Virginia Beach, Virginia.
My other daughter, Olivia, who couldn't be here today,
runs Boulder, Colorado.
We decided to become a vegan company
at the beginning of 2019.
What were you before that?
I was a real estate investment broker.
Flipped a lot of houses with my husband.
Unfortunately, I got trapped,
and that was the market crash.
So when the market crashed,
I had $10,000 to my name.
So I went and I said, "What can I do with this money?"
So I started with a food cart, a hot dog cart,
took my money from the hot dog cart,
bought a trailer.
Took the money from the trailer,
bought a truck.
And I got it to the point
where I had four trucks plus a backup truck. Four. [ Laughs ] Yep.
And I got to the point where it wasn't
worth it to me anymore
to kill myself for that kind of money,
if my kids weren't interested in being part of it.
I needed something that my daughters could be a part of.
So that's when I said to them, "What is it gonna take
to get you passionate about this?"
My other daughter, Lexi, was a healthy vegan.
What's missing in the market?
Junk food.
Well, can I ask you your economics? Yes.
Because in order to franchise,
you have to be able to operate at about
17% to 20% pre-tax profit per location.
We are at a 15% margin.
Last year, switched over with our first truck in June.
Then we opened up our brick and mortar,
which was my commissary, in October.
That's what you want? You want more brick and mortars, right?
No, I want both.
Tell me your sales for last year.
$194,000 for one truck part-time
and one brick and mortar that opened in October.
Now, what's this year gonna look like?
$324,000 came from Virginia Beach, Virginia,
which was closed for six weeks? Yes.
And Boulder, Colorado, which opened January 16th
and closed April 4th and reopened July 25th.
And with that, we also pulled back our food trucks.
Right, we had to pull back our food trucks
because events were canceled.
And how are you doing that? You're still open, or...?
Yes. Heck, yeah.
Greiner: You have huge spunk... Thank you!
...and passion and obviously grit.
I mean, lots of words come to mind with you.
Firecracker. I love her.
Firecracker, right?
So where do you think you get your drive from?
My parents separated when I was very early.
My mother was a --
she's recovering now, for almost 50 years,
but she was an alcoholic,
and I grew up in the homeless shelters.
I learned how to dumpster dive
at 8 years old to get my food.
But that led me to understand
that I wanted to be a stronger person.
I wanted to have control of where I went in my life.
I will never be hungry.
I will never not know how to make money.
And I don't think that I would change anything,
because I would not be the woman I am today.
That's a great story. Good for you. Well done.
-Thank you. -Yeah, good for you. -Congratulations.
That's, you know, they say the strongest swords
are forged in the hottest fires.
You're beaming.
India, how proud are you of your mother?
[ Laughs ]
I love her. She's amazing. Thank you.
[ Voice breaking ] Like I said, she's a firecracker.
Aren't my girls awesome? 00:04:30.437,00:00:00.000 Lubetzky: I find you so inspiring