In this podcast episode, Cole Howard and Camp Campbell, co-founders of Open Truck, share their backgrounds and how they came to start OpenTruck. Cole and Camp discuss early job lessons, and reflect on entrepreneurship as a discipline built through effort and failure.
They explain Open Truck’s origin: a need for one place to find any food truck that is located near you. It will also tell you their hours, menus, and specials and you won't have to rely on scattered Facebook posts.
The iOS app launched January 27 and reached nearly 800 local users in about a week, with an Android version targeted for April 1. You can find the app at getopentruck.com.
Sponsored by Blue Fish & Landshark Promotions
Watch
Transcript:
Cole: My name is Cole Howard. I'm the co-founder of Open Truck. Um, and yeah, I'm happy to be here.
Marcus: Cool.
Camp: Uh, camp Campbell. I'm co-founder of Open Truck. It's Cole's idea, but he brought me on board, so.
Marcus: Very cool.
Camp: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Well, I'm glad to have both of you here. I'm, uh, happy to have you on the podcast.
Camp: Right. Glad to be here.
Marcus: Yeah. I'm, I've been hearing some kind of murmurs in the community about, you know, the, the Open Truck app and I want to get there. But you know, we usually start with understanding a little bit about who it is that we're talking about. So, Cole, I'm just gonna throw it to you. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself.
You, you started to tell me earlier about, you know, you're from mobile and all that stuff.
Cole: Yes.
Marcus: That,
Cole: so I'm from Mobile. Um, I'm 28 years old. I know I look a lot older than what I am. Um, but I'm 28 hard years. Oh yeah. Hard years. Hard years. Um. I have lived in Mobile my whole life. Right now I'm kind of back and forth between [00:01:00] Birmingham and Mobile.
Um, but mobile will always be my home. And so this is kind of where we're wanting to launch, you know, this new business venture. Um, but we couldn't think of a better place to do it because we're surrounded by so many friends and family here, um, as well. Food trucks everywhere. So
Camp: where'd you go to school?
Cole: Um, so I went to Mary J. Montgomery High School, and then I went to the University of West Alabama for a bit. So, um, and I studied, uh, integrated marketing communications there. So.
Marcus: Nice.
Cole: Yeah.
Marcus: Very cool. Mm-hmm. And how about you, Kim?
Camp: Yep. Um, I'm from Sierra Land, born and raised. Spent a little time other places, but I've been here in mobile, certainly in the area the majority of my life.
Uh, I went to school at Saraland High School. It was actually the first class out of Saraland.
Marcus: Oh, wow.
Camp: Yeah, it's been a while.
Marcus: Not as long as some of us just saying, but go ahead. Saraland wasn't a city when I was graduating from high school, so,
Camp: and then, uh, fast forward some years, [00:02:00] I have, well, I have a background.
My main background's in construction, indu, industrial sector.
Marcus: Very cool.
Camp: But, uh, fast forward some years I did.
Marcus: No, we don't fast forward,
Camp: oh,
Marcus: what happened in those years? Because that's where all the interesting stuff is.
Camp: Well, that's kind of boring stuff. You know, I, I worked in plants a lot. Okay. Uh, commercial or industrial
Marcus: construction.
So, just so you know, 'cause I don't know how much time people spend listening to the podcast. Like, this isn't just about the business. Right. This isn't understanding of like, where somebody has come from and the journey that has taken them to this point. Because I'm trying to prove the point that. There is no magic path.
Cole: Right? Yeah.
Marcus: Right. You worked in industrial. Yeah. You know, whatever. And you are barely outta college. Right. Look at you baby face, you know, as
Cole: I got a haircut.
Marcus: That's the only, I just, so, I mean, I guess that's the, that's why I stop and just like, you know, it's, it is pertinent, you know, to what we're, we're discussing.
So, sorry, I didn't mean No,
Camp: no, no, you're good. Well, yeah. Um, worked industrial mainly contract work, uh, [00:03:00] construction.
Marcus: Yeah.
Camp: Did. Um, and then I spent some time in Ohio, about a year in Ohio doing construction work. This was mid COVID?
Marcus: Yeah.
Camp: And then I came home, took a job as a construction superintendent for a pool pool builder here in Mobile.
And then, uh, uh, money wasn't there. Really? Yeah. So I started doing some side work and I started doing exterior cleaning, and that's what I currently do now, in addition to what we, what we're, you know, what we're doing.
Marcus: Yeah.
Camp: But, um. And then that's where I got the love for business and starting a business, growing a business, running a business.
All the aspects, you know, that's not a big, that's not a big business. So you have to do everything yourself.
Marcus: Yeah, absolutely.
Camp: And I kind of fell in love with it. And that was five, almost five years ago.
Marcus: Very cool. Mm-hmm. So did you go to, I didn't hear college in there.
Camp: Well, I spent three semesters at Coastal, but
Marcus: Awesome
Camp: business management.
Marcus: No, I mean like seriously, like I've had people on the podcast that have dropped out of high school.
Camp: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: And I've had people that have advanced degrees.
Camp: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Right. [00:04:00] Multiples.
Camp: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Uh, I've had some of the very smartest people in mobile sit in that chair. Mm-hmm. And I've had people that really probably shouldn't have any business in business.
Right. But wildly successful.
Cole: Right,
Marcus: right. And so that's all I'm just trying to, and I haven't said that in a while, so I feel like it's kind of important to make that point.
Cole: And I feel like it kind of goes along with what you were saying a second ago about, you know, there's no clear, like beaten path. For like making a business successful and starting on your own.
Like there's really no recipe that says like, oh, you have to do this this way, or you have to do this this way. Like as long as you're kind of applying yourself and you don't quit. I feel like that is super important.
Marcus: Yeah. I mean, I view business as kind of like a way of improving oneself.
Cole: Absolutely.
Marcus: Right? Because there are so many different aspects to business that you have to either learn. Or you have to be disciplined on, you have to execute, you know, all kinds of things. And it's not something that is a short duration,
Cole: right?
Marcus: [00:05:00] It is a very long duration. And so to have the amount of grit that it takes in order to maintain that.
Cole: Right
Marcus: is it's a muscle. And so, you know, we're getting wildly off topic, but one of our greatest exercises, uh, 'cause Chrissy, you know, we were talking before Yeah. Chrissy's, um, my, my wife and, uh, we sit around in the evenings and literally try to brainstorm on. Ways that either small things that we have, whether it's, you know, a remote control or, you know, whatever small things that we have, how they might be able to be changed in just the slightest way.
Cole: Mm-hmm. Right?
Marcus: Mm-hmm. In order to impact, you know, change and maybe have a, a business.
Cole: Right.
Marcus: And so, and you know, I, I've also think that there's a way of doing that and I really, man, I'm so upset I did a Ron, if you're out there and you're listening to those. Please get with me. I would love to record the podcast again.
I [00:06:00] did a podcast with a, a gentleman by the name of Ron Holt, whom I had never met before. Yeah. And, um, I had some technical difficulties. The batteries actually died on the, on the mics, and so. Uh, but he is the owner of Pink, uh, pink Zebra Moving Company. If I remember correctly. I'm doing this for memory, so forgive me.
But, um, the thing that was so different about that was just that he had looked at the business in a different way and some of the things that, I'm not gonna get into it 'cause it's not his podcast and he's gotta come on and tell the story,
Cole: right?
Marcus: But the way that, so even there, looking at a business that is very old and coming at it with a new perspective.
Right. Right. And so that's it. It's a muscle. It's just a matter of like getting into that habit and being disciplined and thinking about it often enough to where you start to see the things that you might be able to do. Sure. You know, to make a difference. So, but anyway, um, so now we get into the actual specific of what was your first job and are there any lessons that you still remember from that?
And I, I [00:07:00] want you to go like, really your first job. Like, my first job really was. Uh, working in a bagel bakery and, you know, working with customers and, you know, stuff like that was difficult. But also learning that there were things that, you know, could be done the right way that I never thought had a right way to be done, like mopping a floor.
Right, right. So, but what was your first job and what were the lessons that you still remember from it?
Camp: My first job I worked at a place was, uh, McConaughey Soda Shop, or Mr. Mac Soda Shop. I'm sorry. It was, um. And Satsuma, it's not there anymore, but McConaughey's pharmacy is still there, but I was, uh, me and a good friend of mine, he got me the job right outta high school.
You know, just making ice creams. Yeah, banana splits and. You know, that's not a big deal, but the takeaway, that's a good skill
Cole: though.
Camp: Yeah. I didn't know that. I love sweets. So Carry, I'm right there
Cole: with you.
Camp: But just the details of doing something, how you do something, the presentation and how you treat people, you know, they, because you see the same people all the time.
You want 'em to be happy when [00:08:00] they come in and just doing people right and giving, giving them what they asked for, you know? Yeah,
Marcus: no, it's, you know, it is. 'cause I don't, I think those of us that have been doing this for any length of time. You know, especially, I mean, even something like this, like, you know, getting, and there's nobody else here,
Camp: right?
Yeah.
Marcus: You know, but like people sit in that chair and they're like, ah, right. You know, and it's like. Listen, it's just a camera. Yeah. You know, there's no other, no other difference here. It's, you know, once you get accustomed to dealing with people, the more you know experience you have with that, the easier it becomes.
Right. Most that's lacking today.
Cole: Yeah, I think so. I agree.
Marcus: But anyway, and
Cole: it, and it's so crazy 'cause we live in an age where like everybody has a camera and like everybody has like access to do this stuff. But I think everybody's just kind of. Well,
Marcus: I mean, more so the, the entry, you know, the jobs where the students are, you know, like high school students ish going into a, a workforce, right?
Where they have to deal with people and they have to, you know, greet them and show respect and give them [00:09:00] change and do all these things. And it's just a, it's a, it's a, you know, skill set that's starting to disappear in a lot of ways, but
Cole: Definitely.
Marcus: But how about you, your first job and
Cole: So I've actually been waiting, um.
Like 10 years for somebody to ask me this. My first job was at Fu Sack. Okay. Um, I worked there for four years. Um, I so mobile tried and true. Um, I, the very first time I ever went to Fu Sacks, I told my mom, I was like, I'm gonna apply here. Like, I'm gonna get this job. I wanna work here. Just because I felt like they had that kind of culture.
Like, I just think it's very important, like when you're starting a business to kind of. I don't know, like I've always been interested in business. Mm-hmm. And like how they run and how they operate. And I just was really taken by, you know, the FU and Fu sles and what they kind of did with that brand. Um, but that is where I, I spent four years from the time I was 16 to the time I was 20, um, working at Fu Sack.
And I think that is [00:10:00] where I learned pretty much everything about. Um, like leadership and
Marcus: Wow,
Cole: like leading by example. Um, I had some really great managers. I'm not saying that like, 'cause like I was. I was a terrible employee. I'm not gonna lie to you. I was 16. Well, you're
Marcus: 16.
Cole: I was 16. I was terrible. But like, I would try to get out of doing things.
I'd be like, oh, I don't wanna do that. I've got somebody else to do it. But like,
Marcus: that's just showing leadership skills.
Cole: Right? Right. Yeah. Like if I can convince somebody else to do I do that.
Marcus: Delegation.
Cole: Yeah, delegation. There you go. But, um, I learned a lot there, uh, not just about like, you know, leadership and working as a team, but like also how I wanted to be as a business owner.
Like how I. It changed kind of how I viewed the public because even though I obviously have no ownership, I have no stake in fu sacks. It like I thought in my head, like, if I leave a bad impression on this person, like they'll never come back here.
Yeah.
And like that is, it's super [00:11:00] important for me to be like, I want them to be the reason that they're coming back to Ackleys.
You know? Like I feel like developing those relationships with people. Especially early on whenever you're first getting a job like that is super important.
Marcus: Yeah.
Cole: So I loved my time at Fusack. I couldn't speak highly, highly of it,
Marcus: that it's amazing and I've, you know, I've, uh, I've got a few people that, that know them and have asked for me to see if they want to be, be on the
Cole: podcast.
Marcus: Yeah. And I've not, you know, been able to convince, because I really think that there's something there. I think it's a, you know, as far as local brands go, I mean, I don't know of anybody else that's got cars that'll wait. Oh yeah. You know, for. However long. Yeah. In order to get
Cole: 30 plus minutes.
Marcus: Yeah. I mean, to get a bigger
Cole: box
Marcus: mean, you know, there's another place that we won't name 'cause they're not local, but you know what I mean, they do a reasonable job.
I don't eat their chicken 'cause it doesn't sit well with my system. Mm-hmm.
Cole: Yep.
Marcus: But anyway, um, you know, they are known for having lines around, you know, the Right, but I mean, like right next door.
Cole: Yeah.
Marcus: Mm-hmm. The local guy's killing it too.
Cole: Oh
Marcus: yeah. You know, [00:12:00] it's like, man, we love our fried chicken down here, don't we?
Cole: Absolutely.
Marcus: All right. So why don't you tell us about Open Truck and I mean, I know you guys are kind of just getting started. Yeah. So tell us, you know, a little bit about it and tell us how it's been going.
Cole: So this idea kind of came about, um, it's been roughly four months now since the conception of the original idea.
Um. Essentially, we know that mobile and other areas not, you know, this isn't special just to mobile, but mobile is very special to us. So we wanted to start here, but they have a growing food truck community. Um, we're seeing different coffee shops, pop up, drink shops, um, barbecue, sushi, all kinds of things popping up because I think it's a really good way to.
Start off. Like if you, if you're a restaurant owner and you're looking to start a brick and mortar, sometimes a food truck is the way to go to kind of build up to [00:13:00] that point. And so we're starting to see a lot more of these pop up on the Gulf Coast. And I was sitting one day and I was thinking, you know, how cool would it be if there was just one app?
Like I know you can go on Facebook and you can look at different, the
Marcus: individual pages.
Cole: The individual pages,
Marcus: yeah.
Cole: But that requires. You know, searching up the page, going down, making sure that the post isn't old. Um, looking at comments, seeing, you know, if they've sold out or whatever. But if there was an app that held all of this information about where they are, how long they're gonna be there, um, what is on the menu today, um, any kind of specials, things like that.
If there was one app that could house all of this information, I think it could benefit not only customers. For being able to, you know, just directly see where they are, but also food truck owners because they don't have to constantly post on Facebook and hope that their people are seeing it.
Marcus: Yeah.
Cole: Um, so I kind of got to work on [00:14:00] doing that, on building a prototype, like a working prototype.
It was just a web app, so it was powered by like Google Chrome and you could, you know, save it to your phone on your device. Well then I, I was like, you know, I never wanna do anything alone. I wanna do this with. You know, my best friend, he's also a great entrepreneur, so I was like, I'm gonna need help getting this, getting the word out about this.
But I need somebody who like, is as passionate about this idea. Yeah. As, as I am. And as soon as I told camp, camp was like, I'm on board. Like whatever it is, I'm on board.
Marcus: That's cool.
Cole: So, um, we've been working really hard. Uh, camp has been helping me with like, whenever I got the initial prototype up and going.
Um, camp was kind of the one that was in there like, oh, this, this is working flawlessly. This is not working. We might need to tweak this. Um, so he was kind of my QA person, my, my quality assurance person, and now he's helping onboard all of the food truck, um, owners. [00:15:00] And helping get customers on there. And right now we're up to almost 800 customers on Wow.
In about
a
Marcus: week. So, yeah, I was gonna say, when did you actually launch to the public?
Cole: So it went live on the app store January 27th.
Marcus: Okay.
Cole: Um, and it's, right now it's only available on iOS.
Marcus: I'll pause 'cause we're recording on the 11th, so, I mean, not, not that long.
Cole: Yeah. Ahead. Yeah. And it's only been a couple of weeks and we have about 800 users in the mobile area.
That's
Marcus: amazing.
Cole: Yeah. So, so we know that there's a need for it. Like we know that people. They want this service. It's just a matter of
Marcus: you, you know
Cole: what? Working out all the little kinks in it.
Marcus: I, what I immediately thought when I saw it on Facebook, 'cause I think we're connected on, on Facebook. Yeah. I was just like, how has nobody thought of this idea before?
Yeah,
Cole: yeah. Right.
Camp: Yeah.
Marcus: And that's what I'm talking about in the evenings, like sitting around and just like looking at things at a different, how did nobody see this idea before?
Cole: Yeah. And it, it, I, I genuinely don't know. Uh, I will say, and I, I need to give credit where credit is due. The conversation actually started off [00:16:00] with my wife's aunt.
Um, she was the one that she was sitting around and she was like, she said, there's this food truck that y'all have got to try. And she was telling us all about it. And she's like,
Marcus: which one was it?
Cole: I, I can't remember. I can't remember which one it was. Now
Marcus: you have a shameless plug.
Cole: But she, um, she was bound and determined to figure out where they were.
Yeah. And later on that night, I was like sitting there and I said like, why couldn't she find that food truck? Like that should have been a lot easier
Marcus: Yeah.
Cole: For her to do. And like even like going on Facebook, but like, she couldn't remember the name of it.
Marcus: Yeah.
Cole: Like being on Facebook. So if there was just a dedicated
Marcus: place.
Well, the other thing too is exposure. Yeah. If you're a new food truck, how do you get that first? Absolutely. You know, uh, claw into the Exactly, exactly. You know, uh, to learn, you know, to gain some clients, I guess. Oh yeah. Is what I'm trying to say. So, no, it's just amazing. I think. Um. You know, I think it's a, a great idea.
I, like I said, I can't believe that it hasn't been done before and I hope that you guys absolutely kill it because, I mean, sir, you just launched in the mobile area, now we
Cole: are. Okay, so [00:17:00] you holding it, we actually just recently hired a developer, um, like a full stack developer because like I said, my background is not really in like app development.
Yeah, yeah. It's more in like just, you know, general web development and um, graphic design, things like that. Marketing. But we wanted to make sure that we're doing this the right way. Mm-hmm. And so the most important thing to us is making sure that one data is protected. Like people get sued all the time for data breaches or whatever.
So that's our top priority. Making sure that all of that is protect, protected. Yeah. Um, so we hired a new developer. His name is Wasif. He just joined us yesterday. He's our new chief technical officer. Mm-hmm. But, um, he's getting to work on building an Android app, and we're hoping to have that launched by April 1st.
Marcus: Nice. So it's iOS only now?
Cole: Yeah, right now it's iOS only.
Marcus: Nice. I'll have to, I'll have to download it after the show. Yeah,
Cole: definitely
Marcus: give it a, give it a twirl. Um, I spent 10 years as a quality assurance tester, so Oh, that's [00:18:00] awesome. Very nice. You can give us the
Cole: feedback.
Marcus: So, no, I'll, uh, I'll definitely take a look.
'cause I'm, I think, you know, it's just a cool idea to be able to pull open a, an app and say, Hey, I want something different today, or I wanna support, you know, local business today or Right. You know what I mean? Or there's a specific truck that everybody's been talking about and Sure. I want to see, you know, I mean like, but right now you're right.
I mean, unless you comb through, you know, Facebook, it just doesn't seem like there's an easy way to do that, so. Right. Um. I mean, you guys are kind of early into this, but you know, if you're talking to someone that wanted to get started on running their own business, what's the one bit of wisdom that you would give them?
Camp: Hmm. Wisdom. I wouldn't call this wisdom, but just do it.
Marcus: Yeah,
Camp: just get into it, you know, get a good idea of what you want. Be, have an idea of the field that you're trying to go into. Preferably have some connections, but just make the gym, make the leap. You know, learn what you need to learn how to form an LLC or the, the entity in general.[00:19:00]
You know what, what other people are doing, what works because, you know, you can always copy and paste Yeah. People from, from other areas and just jump into it.
Marcus: Yeah. It's, you know, uh, I was talking to a friend recently who started a, you know, business and I was like, listen man, you're not gonna, you, you're not gonna know more than the other folks that are successful in other markets.
Cole: Right.
Marcus: By all means, go and copy, you know, what they're, you know, like, you don't copy copy, but you know, like
Cole: Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marcus: Um, takes
Cole: some inspiration.
Marcus: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Literal inspiration. Um, you know, 'cause I mean, I think there's, there's something important there that until you get started and have that knowledge, you know, then tweaking, it can kind of make it absolutely, you know, more powerful.
But what about you?
Cole: I think I, and again, I'm gonna be like camp, I'm not gonna call this necessarily wisdom, but. Um, don't be afraid to fail.
Marcus: Mm-hmm.
Cole: Um, nobody's gonna, people may look at you as a failure, but, and it doesn't [00:20:00] matter. You know? It's
Marcus: redefine failure. No, I'm saying redefine failure. Failure.
Failure is not doing it
Cole: Right. Failure, I
Marcus: would say if you do something and you don't get to where you wanted to go with it.
Cole: Right.
Marcus: That's not. Necessarily failure, right?
Cole: The only time it's failure is when you yourself give up and you're like, okay. Like that's,
Marcus: it's not happen. And even though sometimes it just wasn't meant to be.
Yeah.
Cole: Right. Yeah.
Marcus: I just, and you know, the, the whole, this whole idea of failure, it's like life is just an experience that we're moving from one experience to the next and like, okay, one didn't work out. So you're gonna blow up your whole, whole Exactly. Bean and everything that you are, because that one little thing didn't work out.
Cole: Yeah.
Marcus: Like, I don't know. I've just had, maybe that's, you know, my age showing, but I'm just kind of like,
Cole: yeah.
Marcus: You know,
Cole: I, I kind of define myself by my failures, um, because there are a lot of things that I have done and that I will do in the future that some people. I don't like, [00:21:00] I can't live my life. I'm like a pa a pass or fail kind of thing.
Right. Um, but I do know when to accept when I have done something that
Marcus: Yeah, by all means
Cole: I failed that.
Marcus: Yeah. Yeah.
Cole: So
Marcus: I'm not saying that you're an arrogant prick, you know, like
Cole: Right.
Marcus: Everybody makes mistakes. I what I'm saying is that the true, uh, the true way to live life. Per Marcus Netto is to you, just you're trying to have as many wonderful experiences as you can and learn and become a better person.
Yeah. And the only way to do that is to make mistakes. Oh, yeah. And the only way to do that is to, you know, it's like Elon SpaceX. I was talking to Chrissy last night and I was like, did you know that they, they postponed Artemis two for a month. Because they found, I think it was a hydrogen leak. Mm-hmm. And so we were talking about this because, you know, it was something that we had been keeping our eyes on.
And I was like, in the meantime, SpaceX is gonna launch. 30.
Camp: Yeah.
Marcus: Rockets and [00:22:00] probably blow up a couple in the of the time. Yeah. Now get it. I get it. But there's people on this rocket and so they're being extra careful, but I don't remember them ever firing off, and I could be wrong. I don't remember them ever firing off this type of rocket before.
And so the question was. You know, like SpaceX is stress testing these things and they're, they're breaking them, they're pushing them to the limits. Right. That is life.
Cole: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: If you're not pushing it to the limits and finding where those breaking points are, then you don't know where your failures are as a human being.
You don't know where you need to learn and Right. If you really don't. I mean, there's just so much that comes out of that. So, but anyway, um,
Camp: that's a good point.
Marcus: Well, I mean, it's just, uh. I think, I don't know. I just, I get, I feel for people that don't, can't get started. Mm-hmm. You know, and so kudos for you guys for seeing an idea and like, I appreciate it, you know, running with it.
Um, how about, how about books, podcasts, or people or organizations, anybody specific that you know, has kind of really [00:23:00] inspired you maybe in the last year or given you, you know, some information that you didn't have before that was really helpful?
Camp: I can't pinpoint one piece of information, but my favorite podcast is a business podcast called My First Million.
And they, they, um, Sam Paul and Sean Curry. Mm-hmm. They are both successful entrepreneurs and they talk about, to go back to what you were saying, try, try and fail. Fail again. And you know, I mean, it took them 12 years before they had a little bit of success.
Marcus: Yeah. I mean.
Camp: One of 'em started selling hot dogs.
That was his thing, speaking food trucks. But, and, uh, but just to, um, you know, the, the people that they have on and the different experiences that, that you see. And then, I mean, they do give good bits of information too, without going, you know, they can't go too deep into detail, but I, I really enjoy that podcast.
Marcus: Yeah. They do give quite a bit of information there. And I agree. It's kind of a. You know, well, it's just to get off your ass and do it kind of Right, you know, attitude and surrounding it. They, they are part of the HubSpot organization. Mm-hmm. But yeah. [00:24:00] What was their, there was, their product was something different, wasn't it?
Camp: Uh, Sam's was,
Marcus: it was like
Camp: a, the Hustle. We had a newsletter.
Marcus: Yeah. Hustle. It was the newsletter because I subscribed to that and it was,
Camp: yeah,
Marcus: it was great. I remember that.
Camp: And then Sean, he, his company started a streaming company or co-founded a streaming company that actually sold to Twitch.
Marcus: Oh wow. So
Camp: he's doing well.
Marcus: Nice. Yeah. Not, not hurting.
Camp: Not at all.
Marcus: Um, so I got a couple of rapid fire questions. I've not done this with two people, so I don't know how we do this, but 12, 12 questions, just gimme your answer. Uh, so favorite type of music. I'm
Cole: a raw guy. Mine's more like alternative.
Marcus: Define alternative.
Cole: John Mayer. Um,
Marcus: okay.
Cole: One of my
Marcus: favorites. See, I was thinking like the cured fresh mode. No, well, I mean that's alternative,
Cole: like all music,
Marcus: but I think alternative is
Cole: like, kind of soft rock.
Marcus: Okay. Alternative. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what's your favorite type of food? What's gonna get you guys [00:25:00] in trouble right now?
Cole: Fried.
Marcus: Oh, come on. Cuisine
Camp: and general.
Marcus: Yeah. Italian. Any,
Cole: any kind that comes off of a
Marcus: truck. Italian. Yeah. Anything? Yeah. Gimme a break.
Camp: You got,
Marcus: um, favorite restaurant in lower Alabama?
Camp: Uh, I'm via Amelia.
Cole: I swear. I was gonna say via million.
Camp: I was gonna it
Marcus: really
Cole: Amelia. That's
Camp: wonderful.
Marcus: Why have, where am I not, am I, I'm Pause. Sorry. It's my rapid fire.
I get pause if I want. Where is that?
Camp: It's on old, she,
Cole: yeah, it's on old. She right across from the Mitchell Center. Yeah. Uh, it's a little red building. It's been there for
Marcus: Okay. Like nine. I do know of that, but I've been meaning to try it and I've not been there. Got
Camp: to
Cole: got, it's
Marcus: just that good. Okay. Heard it here, folks.
It'll be packed next time I try to go. There you go. Um, favorite city outside of mobile.
Camp: Colorado Springs or that area? That whole area.
Marcus: Cool.
Cole: Dc
Marcus: DC mm-hmm. You gotta talk about that.
Cole: Oh yeah.
Marcus: Jesus. Um, city you went to travel to, but have yet to visit. [00:26:00]
Camp: Hmm. I got a list a mile long, but I'll say, uh, just Jackson Hole to keep. Its simple.
Marcus: Okay.
Cole: Miami?
Camp: Yeah.
Marcus: Whew.
Cole: I always wanted to go to Miami.
Marcus: God, you can lose your soul.
Camp: And I'll put it up there with New York City too. I've never been on. It out.
Marcus: Uh, I've, I've ne you, I've been to New York City, but it's been a long time and I've always wanted to go like around Christmas, so I'm gonna try and make that Yeah. You know, happen. That'd be beautiful. Go
Camp: to the Rockefeller Center.
Marcus: Yeah. I mean, I know it's cheesy, but
Camp: Yeah.
Marcus: Um, what comes to mind when I say guilty pleasure?
Camp: Um,
Cole: man, I need by Olivia Dean.
What that song has been stuck in my head and it's a guilty pleasure.
That song, if you have not been, if you have not been on TikTok and listen to this song about an
Camp: activity, man.
Cole: I mean, my God, that's my, I was thinking
Marcus: more like food,
Camp: but,
Cole: okay. That's my
guilty
Camp: point video. Games always feel bad when I play, but I, [00:27:00] you know, yeah. I get lost in 'em when I sit down.
Marcus: Don't feel bad.
They're great for you.
Camp: Yeah.
Marcus: Yeah. They're, I mean, doctors and fighter pilots right. Are supposed to do it. So, I mean, why shouldn't regular people too. There you go. You wanna try again?
Cole: Yeah, I'll try again. A guilty pleasure, I would think is something that you take pleasure in, um, that you don't necessarily, you know, want to take pleasure in.
Like maybe a specific song, like listen to a song in the,
Marcus: not just a, um. Alright, so what, uh, sorry. Dogs, cats are none of the above, man.
Camp: Touchy subject, but cats,
Cole: dogs.
Marcus: Okay. I like both. I got a cat now and it's almost a dog. There you
Cole: go.
Marcus: This is the best kind of cat. Yeah. Summer or winter?
Cole: Winter. Winter.
Marcus: Geez, you guys are so wrong.
Favorite movie or TV show?
Cole: Shit's Creek.
Marcus: Okay.
Camp: Uh, Ozark As far as like. Something serious. Yeah. But I actually, thanks Nicole started recently [00:28:00] watching Seinfeld. Oh yeah. And it's, it's wonderful.
Marcus: Yeah. It's,
Camp: I mean, it's so simple but
Marcus: funny. You know, it's funny to go back and watch some of the old shows 'cause it is kind of, you know, like some of the stuff, you know, you're like, oh yeah, yeah.
Camp: Right.
Marcus: But no, there were just some really creative ideas and there's a reason why some of those shows were around for so long. Mm-hmm. You know?
Cole: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Uh, favorite holiday outside of Christmas,
Camp: Halloween.
Cole: I, I would say Halloween.
Marcus: Yeah. Favorite color?
Cole: Purple. Uh,
Marcus: purple. Mm-hmm. Alright.
Cole: Mine's orange right now.
Mine changes though. Mine changes like,
Marcus: all right. I'm
Cole: sure you ask me next week. It could be blue
Marcus: together. You make Halloween. There
Cole: you go. There you
Marcus: go. Favorite cereal,
Camp: honey. Bunches of oats with almonds in the, in the, the bag. The cheap big bag.
Marcus: Yeah. Yeah.
Camp: Cereal gotta be the
Cole: great value.
Marcus: The value, yeah.
Great value. Um, alright. Not rapid fire. What are you most thankful for?
Camp: Um, [00:29:00]
Cole: my family and my friends.
Camp: Yeah. I'm gonna have to say my friends. I don't have a a, a tight family in my bill.
Marcus: Yeah.
Camp: My family, I mean, my friends hold me together. Yeah. You know, I've got, I've got like my friend group is. To give a long answer to a short question. No. But, um, this
Marcus: isn't a rapid fire, so feel free.
Camp: Yeah. So my, my friend group, I really don't have a friend group, I guess I do, but like, I have individuals that make up a friend group and they really, like Cole doesn't know any of my other friends and none of my other friends really know Cole.
Marcus: Yeah.
Camp: But you know, they all, they all give me something I need, you know?
Marcus: Yeah,
Camp: yeah. Business with coal and we can talk about things that I can't talk about with anything else, you know? And then I have a friend that I can talk about with like we, we work out together. We can talk about that after. One of my best friends. We've been through a lot together so we can have really deep conversations and each, I think you just need all those pieces.
I'm absolutely with my friends.
Marcus: Yeah. I mean, it's kind of unrealistic when we expect one person to fulfill all the needs that we have as a humanly.
Camp: Yeah,
Marcus: it's, it is nice when you can kind of get some of those people together though, and have Yeah. You know, if they have some commonalities, [00:30:00] so Definitely.
But, um, how about you? You said family and friends?
Cole: Yeah.
Marcus: Yeah,
Cole: family and friends. Um. I don't have like a huge family, but I have a, you know, a pretty tight little group that's my family. But I, I kind of blur the line between family and friends. Mm-hmm. Um, my friends really have become my family. Um, so that's kind of what, that's what gets me through.
Marcus: It's, you know, it's interesting and it's difficult because, you know, after you get out of school, you know, it's like how, you know, I mean, most of us would make our friend groups. Something, uh, out of our work, right? You know, like in a corporate world or you know, trades or whatever, you know, and, you know, if you're an entrepreneur then you know it's even more lonely because people, one, aren't going through the same experiences that you are often.
But also how do you find somebody else that can actually, that you can provide benefit to and feedback. That values that, but also that they can [00:31:00] give you and pour into you and, and give you feedback. It's not an easy thing. And even to make it matters worse. Guys are dumb and can't really, can't and can't relate to each other most of the times like football.
Cole: Exactly.
Marcus: You know,
Cole: that's why I'm so thankful I'm not the friend that can't, can talk about the gym when football. I'm like, that's his, we can talk about anything on a computer.
Marcus: That's his football itch. Yeah. That's it. Like so yeah. All right, so you mentioned DC and I just wanted to touch on that. What was your experience in dc?
Cole: So I've actually been twice. I went once, the first time I was in high school, I went with, um, this program, I, I don't even remember the name of the program, but, um, enlightening Super Enlight Close Up. It was the close up program. Um,
Marcus: I, I haven't heard of that. Yeah,
Cole: we went there. Um, they do it annually. They like pick students from different schools and you like raise up money and you get to go like, meet the senators and, you know.
It, tour the whole capitol. Like it, it was really a surreal experience. The first time I went, second time I [00:32:00] went was whenever I was grown, I actually went like last year and I think I had even more fun because my wife had a, a dental conference that she was going to up there. So I just kind of got to hang out and
Marcus: see all the stuff,
Cole: you know, go sightseeing.
But, um, I think that's one of my favorite places. It's just, it reminds you because. I come from mobile, obviously, like we're a growing city, but we're not like huge, like we're no DC I think going places like that, like it reminds you like, not not of your insignificance, but it's like, it just makes you see like there's this much bigger machine that's working.
Like people will pass you on the street, like, and you can hear them like, like in the south, I know we're loud and we're, you know, rambunctious, but we're also like. Super close with each other. Mm-hmm. Like, we'll, we'll be polite and speak in bigger cities. It's like, it's not that the people are rude, it's that, you know, there's so many people that like, you can't
Marcus: possibly,
Cole: you can't possibly speak to everybody.
And so I think [00:33:00] it just reminds you, or at least reminds me anyway, that like, like everybody's got their own kind of thing. They have their own life going on, they have their own problems, their own, and it just makes, it kind of centers me. I think when I go to a big city like that, it kind of reminds me of.
Look at my life and appreciate it a little bit more. Did
Marcus: you do anything that you,
Cole: so we went to this, I don't know if this is a good one to tell, but we went to this place. It
Marcus: is now we got a
Cole: recording.
Marcus: So,
Cole: um, we went to this place, I call it the Incense club.
Marcus: Okay.
Cole: Because it was like we were trying to find something to do like after the Super Bowl.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was like, it was three stories. It was like a dance club and the first floor was like, hmm. Mm. Like real slow. And then the higher you went up, it was like the
Marcus: beat per minute went up upstairs. It all
Cole: people just like with and like the lights everywhere. And that's like not my scene.
Like I normally don't do that kind of stuff. But like winning Win in Rome
Marcus: know. No, absolutely.
Cole: So, but we had a, we had a really great time doing that. Um,
Marcus: see, I'm actually the opposite direction. [00:34:00] I'm from there and that's my stuff. Okay. But when I come down here, it's like, all right, let's, uh, everything's
Cole: slow.
Marcus: Very
Cole: nice.
Marcus: But, um, no, that's cool. I haven't been back in so long. I do want to get back, but I think, you know, DC's a really great place to visit.
Cole: Yeah.
Marcus: Um, it is one of the places that you can go to where there is so much to do and most of it is free.
Cole: Yeah.
Marcus: Um, you know, but it's also, it's a, I was thinking about this this morning actually.
I was listening to something that, it's something and I, I was just reminded at how. Uh, DC is the most self-important city in the world.
Cole: Yeah,
Marcus: right. Everybody walks around with that thought in their head. They do.
Cole: Yes.
Marcus: And um. I just didn't, I don't know. I just didn't think that mu much of myself, I, I didn't want to walk around feeling like that.
Cole: Yeah.
Marcus: So
Cole: I will say that everybody that I met in DC for the most part, was very, they're wonderful people. Yeah. Just fantastic. It's
Marcus: just the vibe of the city. You know what, it's just,
Cole: it moves so quick.
Marcus: Well, it moves quick and people [00:35:00] know that there's power there, you know what I mean? Like, it's not just, you know, the power that you expect with the presidency in Congress and you know, all that stuff.
But I mean, even at the lower levels, like each of the independent, you know. Uh, departments and stuff like that. I mean, we worked, I worked in the Department of Defense and Department of State as con the contractor, and so it was just, you know, but this was a long time ago. Maybe things have changed. Maybe it's all beautiful and works like a flawless machine now.
Cole: I'm sure it does.
Marcus: Yeah. All right, so tell people where they can find you.
Camp: Facebook mainly, you know, if you, if you wanna follow us, go to Facebook.
Marcus: Okay.
Camp: Um, we actually haven't really started building the Instagram TikTok. Edge, Twitter, whatever. It's So
Marcus: website?
Cole: Yes, we have a website Right now. It's really just more of a landing page.
What's the domain to download the app? It's get open truck.com.
Marcus: Okay.
Cole: Um,
Marcus: and it's in the iOS store?
Cole: Yes. Yes. And it is in the app store. You can look it up. It's just open truck. Open truck. Yes. And it's a big orange icon. Okay. With [00:36:00] a, um, with a food truck
Marcus: on it. Hence the proclivity for orange juice.
Cole: There we go.
Marcus: So, alright. Well I wanna thank you again for coming on the podcast. To wrap up any final thoughts or comments you'd like to share?
Cole: We, um, have been super excited and nervous to be here, and this could not have gone any better. So we appreciate you having Yeah,
Marcus: you're, you're a
Cole: great notice.
Camp: This is, uh, I was
Marcus: I appreciate it. And uh, you know, I just, I just enjoy talking to people, so. Absolutely. You know, I think everybody kind of has this, you know, idea in their mind of what it. Like when you come here and it's just like, nah, man, just sit down and have a conversation. Just ignore that thing, you know? So anyway, guys, I, I appreciate your willingness to sit with me and share your journey as business owners and entrepreneurs.
It's been great talking.
Cole: Absolutely. Thank you.
