Marie Van Asch
https://grandmasfoodtruck.net/With a business unlike anyone else in the cohort, Marie left with a digital framework and more customers to prove it.
"I had no idea what my digital presence was. I had no idea what to do, what not to do. I was just willy-nilly all of the things."
Marie has a very special mission and a very specific vision for what her food truck should feel like.
Not just taste like. Feel like.
"I want someone to take a bite and be like, I remember my grandma making this - or I remember my aunt making this."
That's the whole mission behind Grandmas Kitchen, a food truck serving the St. Louis metro area. No burgers. No hot dogs.
Instead: pot roast, pierogis, and the kind of comfort food everybody wants to eat but nobody wants to make anymore. The things that lived in your Grandmas kitchen on a Sunday afternoon.
One year and two months into running the truck - with her husband pitching in after his day job and her daughter helping between college and volleyball - Marie had the food part figured out.
The digital part was another story entirely.
Before the GeekPack + Verizon Cohort, Marie's approach to her digital presence was honest, if chaotic.
"I had no idea what my digital presence was. I had no idea what to do, what not to do. I was just willy-nilly all of the things. I had no clue."
She'd Googled some things. Asked other food trucks in the area. But the food truck world, it turns out, isn't exactly overflowing with digital strategy expertise.
"We all kind of do what we can. Everyone is a small business, very small - mostly two or three people. So we're all just kind of winging it."
What she was hoping for was clarity. Some direction. A sense of what actually works.
"I definitely think I got all of that and then some."
Walking into a cohort full of coaches, consultants, and service providers as a food truck owner could have felt like the wrong room. And at first, part of Marie wondered if it was.
"I didn't think that some of this was specifically for me."
But the cohort had a way of reframing that.
"They were quick to tell me, 'No, this is for you. You just have to look at it a little bit differently - because you're selling food and it's something that's consumed, it's here one second, gone the next.' It was just really nice for people to show you that you're there. You're just looking at it from the wrong side."
That shift - realizing the same principles applied, just through a different lens - opened everything up.
Cohort leader Glenna Garcia had a particular gift that Marie noticed immediately.
"There were times that you feel what you want to say in your head and it's not coming out correctly - and she just had a way to either give you that little nugget that you needed to go in the right direction, or she would say that little thing that everyone else would kind of jump in and be like, 'Yeah, this is exactly what she meant.'"
It's the kind of facilitation that goes beyond teaching - it's listening closely enough to help someone find the words for what they already know.
Marie still has her printed packets from the cohort. She looks at them a little every day.
"Can I still do this? Can I try something else?"
The confidence didn't arrive all at once. But it arrived.
"I feel slightly more confident - which is for me a lot more confidence."
And it's showing up where it counts. More customers are finding Grandmas Kitchen. People who wouldn't have found the truck before are finding it now.
"People are finding us. We are getting more of those people now."
For a one-year-old food truck with no prior digital strategy, that's not a small thing.
Ask Marie what the most valuable part of the cohort was, and she doesn't hesitate:
"The people. All of the people."
Some of the participants live in her area - and they're already talking about meeting up, networking, and bouncing ideas off each other.
"Just being able to touch base with these people and say, 'Hey, how's everything going for you?' - I thought that was really nice to have that little networking piece in there."
Marie describes herself as a serial student, and the cohort only accelerated that. Through GeekPack, she found out about the grants - a resource she never would have searched for on her own.
"I never would have looked there to help me because I'm a food truck. And then I look and I'm like, well, it can help me even though I didn't think it could."
That's become her philosophy now: follow the unexpected path and see where it leads.
"Find those little avenues and see where those take you - because it might not be where you thought you were looking."
She's even thinking about sharing what she's learned with the other food trucks in her area - the ones who were all winging it alongside her.
"Maybe now I can give them some of the things I learned."
Marie's vision for the future is as warm as the food she serves.
"I'd like people to see that food trucks aren't just hamburgers and hot dogs and French fries - that you can get good restaurant quality food that tastes like it came from your nona from a food truck."
She wants employees. She wants to change minds. And most of all, she wants something simple:
"I want people to just get that warm fuzzy feeling when they eat my food."
With a clearer digital strategy, a growing customer base, and a community behind her - she's well on her way.
Can you share a quick overview of your business and what you do?
Grandmas Kitchen is a food truck. We operate in the St. Louis metro area — I live in Illinois, but we're really close to the St. Louis side of the river. It is things from my childhood, and probably other people's childhoods, that I want people to taste again. Things that everybody wants to eat, nobody wants to make — like pot roast and pierogis, things that you wouldn't see on a food truck. I want someone to take a bite and be like, "I remember my grandma making this" or "I remember my aunt making this." So that is us.
How long have you been in business?
We have been in business for one year and about two months. Not a long time.
Do you have any employees or people who help you with the food truck?
It is me full-time. My husband, when he is not working his normal job. And then my daughter just graduated high school and she is on her way off to college, but she is local — so I will get her whenever she is not doing school work or playing volleyball. They don't have a choice. They may or may not want to, but they're giving it their all.
What problems were you looking to solve when you signed up for the GeekPack + Verizon Cohort?
I had no idea what my digital presence was. I had no idea what to do, what not to do. I was just willy-nilly all of the things. I had no clue. This is why I have a teenager — I don't know how to do any of the things. So I had hoped for some clarity, some insight, and I definitely think I got all of that and then some.
Have you tried to learn about digital skills or improving your digital presence before?
This was really the first program. I had Googled some things and asked some folks, but all the other food trucks in the area — we all kind of do what we can. Everyone is a small business, very small, mostly two or three people. So we're all just kind of winging it. I didn't get a lot of help there, but now maybe I can give them some of the things I learned.
Have you seen any tangible returns — more money, more customers, any feedback — from implementing what you've learned?
I'm definitely seeing more customers. People are finding us. I don't know if it's more easily, but we are getting people that normally wouldn't have trafficked us to hire our truck. We are getting more of those people now.
Do you feel more confident with your business and your digital presence than you did before?
Yes. I do still have all of my little packets that I printed out from the cohort and all of the Verizon courses that I kind of look at a little bit every day going, "Okay, can I still do this? Can I try something else?" But yes, I feel slightly more confident — which is for me a lot more confidence.
What were your biggest challenges during the cohort or with the Verizon courses?
I thought the courses were really good. They were really clear. I don't think I had any issues with it at all.
What else would benefit your business for you to learn?
Everything. All of the things. I am in the six revenue moves in six weeks right now with Julia, so I'm pretty excited about that. I'm always up to learn what I don't know. Even if I get one small thing out of each of these, that's a step in a direction that I wasn't going.
Did you feel supported when going through the Digital Ready courses and being part of the community?
Absolutely. Glenna was our leader, facilitator — I don't know what she is called — but she was amazing. There were times that you feel what you want to say in your head and it's not coming out correctly, and she just had a way to either give you that little nugget that you needed to go in the right direction, or she would say that little thing that everyone else would kind of jump in and be like, "Yeah, this is exactly what she meant." And then you were like — that's what I was thinking. It was amazing.
Did joining the GeekPack cohort help with your progress in the Digital Ready courses?
I think so. It's always good to be able to bounce your responses off somebody else. Sometimes I was quick to say that I didn't think some of this was specifically for me. And they were quick to tell me, "No, this is for you. You just have to look at it a little bit differently — because you're selling food and it's something that's consumed, it's here one second gone the next." It was just really nice for people to show you that you're there. You're just looking at it from the wrong side.
In your opinion, what is the most valuable part of being in this cohort?
The people. All of the people. There are people that were in the last one that are now in with me again on the revenue one. People that we realized are here in town or in our general area that want to meet up and network or just chat and bounce ideas off each other — because every city, state, every area is different. Just being able to touch base with these people and say, "Hey, how's everything going for you?" I thought that was really nice to have that little networking piece in there.
What's your number one tip for someone who wants to learn a new skill or move forward in their business?
Learn all the things. I'm a serial student — I love school and learning things. Through GeekPack, I learned about the Galaxy of Stars grants site, so I watch that now. And everything that gets sent out from GeekPack — look at this website, look at this information — find those little avenues and see where those take you, because it might not be where you thought you were looking. I find little things that I'm like, "Oh, I never would have looked there to help me because I'm a food truck." And then I look and I'm like, "Well, it can help me even though I didn't think it could." Look at something outside the box a little bit.
What does the future look like for you?
Hopefully I'll get some employees. The future for me, hopefully, is changing people's minds about food trucks — at least in my little bubble of the world. I'd like people to see that food trucks aren't just hamburgers and hot dogs and French fries, and that you can get good restaurant quality food that tastes like it came from your nona from a food truck. I want people to just get that warm fuzzy feeling when they eat my food.
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