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It is said that nothing brings people together like delicious food. Good food has to come from somewhere. That’s where Anna Ravikov Lim comes in. Her business is about bringing people together through food trucks.
In fact, her business name, SW Food Truck Gigs, is self-explanatory. She books food trucks for events.
“The definition of a gig is work, especially work that is temporary or freelance, done informally or on demand,” she said. “And that’s exactly what my service provides to food trucks and caterers. I help clients book food trucks for gigs, and I help food trucks find gigs. I can also help you.”
Ravikov Lim provides services for schools (teacher lunches, school-wide events, teacher appreciation), personal events (graduations, birthday parties, weddings), and corporate clients (employee/customer appreciation). feelings, employee holiday meals, real estate open houses), farmers markets, festivals, and even homeowners associations (weekly food trucks and holiday events).
“Everyone loves food trucks, and working with SW Food Truck Gigs made them a perfect fit,” she said.
Regarding the name, Ravikov Lim explained: “Since I provide a service, I knew my business name had to answer the W’s (who, what, where…). It would never grow outside of the Benbrook community. That wasn’t our intention, but we still wanted to provide a big city feel.
“I’m based in Benbrook, but Benbrook is technically southwest of Fort Worth, so I rode southwest from my base. If my business grows, SW means Texas. Keep in mind that there are possibilities, Texas is the SW of the United States, what is a food truck, what is a gig?”
The business has grown from humble beginnings in Benbrook during the COVID-19 pandemic to now working with food trucks, caterers, dessert trucks and mobile bars to serve the entire DFW area. has grown to. If a customer requests a certain type of food or truck and it’s not on her roster, she’ll be happy to make that connection.
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“Honestly, I don’t know how many food trucks we partner with, because they come and go very quickly. Running a food truck is very demanding, and seasonal. It’s a life,” she said. “So if the off-season is too late, it can be difficult to recover from it.
“Some people have done so well that they decided to sell their truck and open a shop. In any case, I always try to see their point of view and support them in any way I can. They really They are the hardest working people and have the best food in town.”
Although her current focus is on the DFW area, Ravikov Lim’s career background allows her to organize events and food trucks far beyond her North Texas base. For example, she had a local business client who wanted to host an employee lunch event in Uvalde in the aftermath of the elementary school shooting. She was able to find a veteran-run barbecue food truck operator in San Antonio who drove to Uvalde and provided her with a surprise lunch.
“It was such an honor to be able to bring a little happiness into the lives of our employees that day,” she said.
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Like many people, Ravikov Lim faced challenges during the pandemic. Her more than 25-year career as an independent conference organizer was ruined by the closure, her 15-year marriage also ended abruptly, and she was left a middle-aged single mother with two young boys. . .
“Fortunately, I’m a ‘make lemonade out of lemons’ type of person, so I knew I had to use my conference planning skills to figure out a way to create a service business that fit the new way of life during the pandemic. ” she said.
The Fort Worth native grew up in East Texas and lived in Boston after moving back to Fort Worth in 2009 so her children could grow up near their grandparents.
During the Boston summer, Anna and the kids spent weekends in Maine, driving along the coast to eat fried clams and lobster rolls. One day in August 2020, she was sitting at her laptop in Benbrook wanting to eat a real lobster roll, but she couldn’t figure out how to get one from as far away as the lobster-rich Northeast. did not.
“Like some eerie magic, Facebook listened to my thoughts and as I was scrolling through my feed, an ad for Cousins Maine Lobster popped up,” she recalls. “Ann ah for a moment! I made a reservation at my local Cousin’s Maine Lobster Food Truck and posted on the app Nextdoor hoping that others would also want to try a lobster roll. To our surprise, over 100 participants gathered!
“The next day, we received messages from our neighbors thanking us for delivering lobster to our community and asking us to do it again.”
A few weeks later, she booked the taco truck for Taco Tuesday, and about 70 people showed up.
“My first thought was just to create this service for the Benbrook community, because we don’t have a variety of food options,” Ravikov Lim said. . “But then a teacher at West Park Elementary School in Benbrook asked me to book a ‘Food Truck Friday’ to boost teacher morale.
“It was a great success, but it also caused a little jealousy among the teachers at Benbrook Junior High School, which is just across the street.I soon received a list of dates from the headteacher to start booking teacher kitchen vans. Ta.”
Word spread about her food truck service between these two schools and local social media pages. Soon, other Fort Worth ISDs, area schools, and people in town began reaching out to her for assistance with kitchen trucks needed for events.
“Before I knew it, I was finding little gaps that needed to be filled and fitted snugly into the wheelhouse,” she said. “I use my event expertise to help others book food trucks for schools, events, employees, etc. while also helping people who are really struggling to find more work.” I was able to support a family and a small business owner on wheels.
Ravikov Lim’s two sons, ages 10 and 14, have grown up with her working from home, first as a corporate conference organizer and now as a gig with the SW food truck. She said her job booking food trucks gives her family a chance to explore what the Metroplex has to offer.
“Most of the food truck owners I work with know my sons, so they love it when I book a food truck for their school,” she said. “The food truck owner always says hi to them, and they were the coolest kids in class that day.”
Ravikov Lim comes from a culinary family.
“My family is Jewish, and our lives seem to revolve around cooking and eating,” she said. “My maternal grandparents lived in Houston and were always taking us to the best restaurants in town. This taught me to appreciate fine cuisine. My father, the youngest in the family, was always by my grandmother’s side in the kitchen.
“When I was growing up, most of my grandmother’s dishes were made by my father, and they became staples in our household. When I was in college, my father kept a small binder of those recipes. He created it and gave it to me so I could continue to create it for my family.”
Now, whenever Anna and her sons visit their parents in East Texas, Anna’s father occasionally teaches them how to cook and has begun compiling a cookbook of Anna’s recipes.
“My friends are amazed that my sons are so young and can cook such amazingly delicious food,” she says, adding with a laugh. “I wish they would clean up after themselves with the same enthusiasm.”
Surprisingly, Ravikov Lim said he has never spent a single dollar on advertising his business. Since she started her Facebook page in 2020, word about her business has naturally spread throughout her DFW area, and she has over 2,500 followers and still growing. .
“I come from a customer service background and I really value that. If someone contacts me, I’ll give 110 percent,” she said. “I go all the way to make the experience friendly, efficient, organized, and easy to navigate. Those customers, in turn, like to shout out and refer me on other social media groups, and post my posts. The food truck owners I work with also share my name and business with other food truck owners.
“I just can’t believe how there are so many kind strangers who tag my name, share my posts, tell their friends and colleagues, and mention my services and business. Word of mouth is the most effective way to increase brand awareness and I’m proud to say I’m living proof of that statistic.”
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