The Comeback Kid: Daniel Shemtob’s Story of Loss and Triumph

Daniel Shemtob: 12:20 Yeah. So my other passion is food. So food and hospitality. And I think hospitality is a common thread even in my footwear business. But yeah, I just always love food. I remember my last job. So I worked in sales for a tax relief company. And the guy who founded this company built a huge business and it was a very aggressive human, not very nice. And I remember as the new Jack, I’m there’s like a sales floor of eight people. You have to order the boss lunch every day. And I did such a good job in my three months until the next guy was hired that he said he’s never eaten that well in the 15 years that he’s operated that business. And so when he fired me, he said, the only thing you seem to love here was ordering me lunch. John Corcoran: 13:06 And so why was ordering lunch so complicated? I mean, these days? Well, I mean, these days it’s like Grubhub or whatever. Like, were you doing, like, were you creating something boutique or bespoke for him? Daniel Shemtob: 13:17 I mean, I was looking up the best places. First off, he paid for your lunch. If you were, if he was buying. So that was a free lunch. But then the other part was I’m so passionate about food. And he loved that. And he loves food too. And so I would research different places. And then I would go get us really great food or whatever it was. And like I took a lot. I mean, every day was like it was. It was thoughtful. It was intense. John Corcoran: 13:39 You put you out, you put thought into it. Daniel Shemtob: 13:41 I did, and I mean, I was eating it too. I’m not going to eat junk, you know. And so. Yeah. And so that was that. And I remember when he fired me for leaving to visit my mom in the hospital, it was. This guy was nuts. Wow. He was like, you should go into food. Because that’s the only time I ever saw you happier. And I was like, oh, interesting. And then I remembered, like, I’ve always cooked stuff for my family. I’ve always loved hospitality. And so that planted the seed. And then I thought about restaurants, and I had no idea what a restaurant, how to operate a restaurant, how to get that kind of money. And food trucks were just getting popular. And so I said, you know what? It’s a small investment. If I move home, I could reduce my overhead. And so I moved back from LA to Orange County, back to my twin bed with a bankruptcy and a Range Rover, mind you, because I was making good money and I thought I should buy a Range Rover. So not being the hardest. John Corcoran: 14:34 You know, around this time period, I was an attorney practicing law, and I remember going to a bankruptcy hearing where I was. I did both representing debtors and creditors, but this time I was representing a creditor. And the debtor pulled up in an old Hummer, bright yellow Hummer. I was in the parking lot taking a picture of this. I was like, this is messed up, man. Daniel Shemtob: 14:53 Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a version of me at the time. Yeah. It was released and it was a low lease payment, but it was still, still low lease. John Corcoran: 15:00 A great way of justifying it. Tell that to the bankruptcy judge. Right. Okay, so you go into this and what were the early days like doing this? Was it just you? Did you hire anyone early on? So you get a deal on a truck. And I have so many questions. We’ll start with that and then we’ll get to others. Daniel Shemtob: 15:17 So when I came up with the idea, I reached out to a high school friend who was beyond passionate about food and who’s just started his culinary career, and I asked him, I said, hey, I really like for you to write a menu. And he is also very entrepreneurial. And he was like, write a menu. I’m going to be your business partner. And so we never saw eye to eye on anything. He’s a great human. We’re just both very strong and opinionated. And he’s more opinionated than I am. And we had a very different vision for the brand, but we had a great partnership to kick us off. And so that was that. And we had no employees. We had one intern. He was a bad kid in high school. So he went to a Jewish private school in Irvine. And so they gave him the version of him when he was in high school who was like this troubled kid who was awesome. And so we had a free employee. And that was basically the two of us in this kid and. Daniel Shemtob: 16:15 And a bad kid. Seth and Seth were awesome. And we and together we just did every event. And when we were done cooking on the truck, we would prepare. I would go do payroll, bookkeeping, whatever it was needed on the back end. And we were working. Like, honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were working less than 16 hours a day. We leased a truck. It was a POS truck. Honestly, it was one of the worst trucks I’ve ever seen in my whole entire life. Now, knowing the truck industry for so long. But we loved it. Like and every day was a joy. And we were passionate about it. And you could feel it. And I think within a month we got named the best New Restaurant in Orange County, and there’s never been a food truck to have ever won that I think before and after. Maybe now there’s one other food truck that did really well in Orange County, but we. John Corcoran: 17:03 So let’s stop on that. So how did you decide on the focus? Was it the lime truck from the beginning and explain what the concept is also. Daniel Shemtob: 17:12 So year one was a very different concept than year two okay. We started the idea with healthy quick grab and go items during the day and decadent scratch made food at night. So we said, hey. John Corcoran: 17:27 Great idea for a food truck. Daniel Shemtob: 17:29 I mean, it works, right? You would think like, okay, we hit the office crowd, we give them good healthy food and then hit the late night crowd and we give them decadent, scratch made, high quality but like, you know, more cheese pulls and things like that. I think that menu lasted for two and a half weeks. John Corcoran: 17:44 And it was too, too complicated. Too difficult to execute. Too many ingredients. What? Daniel Shemtob: 17:49 Yeah. It was. So I think, like a week and a half into the menu, Jason comes to me and he’s like, hey, I don’t like the taste of this dish. And I was tasting it. I was like, it tastes like shit. What’s that? What happened? And he’s like, I don’t know. I’m really having trouble making the food consistently, which, by the way, that’s like chef 101. But when you’re new to it, it’s not chef 101. So that was the first red flag. And then the second red flag, which I’m actually really grateful that he brought this to our attention because this is a lesson he goes, honestly, I just don’t like making the same food over and over again. It really bores me. And to Jason’s credit, he has been in the culinary industry for 15 years and he still to this day has a successful restaurant where he makes a brand new menu every week. So since the beginning of time. He’s kind of had that as one of his core values, and it makes eating at his restaurant really unique and fun because he’s sourcing new things all the time and they’re very interesting. And so our concept changed a little bit. And then we had a shift that was from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and we looked at each other and we’re like, well, is it late night or is it daytime? Because, you know, we’re kind of crossing over both. And so we put both items on the menu. And the late night items did way better than the daytime items. And so that was where we kind of shifted and focused more on, you know, like, I would say quality decadence. That was what became kind of the cornerstone. And then we did a brand new menu almost every day. We had some consistent items that would come back here and there, and that was what the brand started as and then eventually ended up being California Mexican, California Mexican. John Corcoran: 19:20 Okay. All right. So it kind of evolved into that. And it’s a bright, bright green lime colored truck that grabs your attention. Yeah. Yeah. And would you? How would you say the food truck scene has changed now? Like, is it a lot harder to get started now than it was 15 years ago? Almost 20 years ago now? Daniel Shemtob: 19:40 Yeah. So the food truck industry had a really organic pop culture moment in 2011, 2012, even 2013, I would say. So if you were a food truck, as long as you can get into the parking lots that have these big crowds, you would do okay. But you really had to figure out your business model. And just because you had those kinds of easier layups, that doesn’t mean that you were going to be successful because a lot of food trucks went out of business then. So I would say that there’s less of an organic awareness around food trucks than there was, but a food truck is a mobile catering business. It’s a pop up, you know, location. It’s a accompaniment to different events that don’t have food. And so it’s one of those things that if you are able to utilize the food truck for what it does well, the industry is still just as good as it was. In fact, my business is doing way better than it was back then. And has grown significantly since back then. But you have to really identify your market and start to understand what makes a food truck special in your community and what community you have to back it up. John Corcoran: 20:57 Yeah. What point did you mention the business part? It didn’t it didn’t work out that well. When did you start to wrap that up? Daniel Shemtob: 21:05 Dan I think it was six months in. He came to me and he said, I don’t want to be your partner anymore. It’s not that you don’t want to be my partner anymore. He didn’t want to cook on a food truck anymore. He said, it’s too hard to make excellent food every day on a food truck. And. And then he said, I really want to open a restaurant. If you’re okay with it. I would like to be your employee until I do that. So he gave me the nicest buyout. I mean, we were literally there was no money to to pay him. Yeah, but he said, hey, just give me the money to pay my rent for a year. And because we were living together too, he said, pay my rent for a year, give me a little bit of cash, which was like nothing, and I’ll work with you for the next year and a half until my restaurant opens. And that’s what we did. John Corcoran: 21:42 Yeah. What did you do? Now let’s talk about the food. Food Network and Reality TV and stuff like that. My brother, Andrew Corcoran, has been in reality TV for 15 plus years now with the Center Drive Media and Orlando Entertainment. So I know, you know, he’s worked on Guy’s Grocery Games and like, all these different shows. So I know a bit of it, a bit of the inside of it. But what gave you the idea of pursuing that? So you applied. Did you apply for different ones before you got into one? No. Okay. So the food truck one. Okay. Yeah. Daniel Shemtob: 22:13 So they reached out to us. John Corcoran: 22:14 Oh, okay. Daniel Shemtob: 22:15 So we built a really crazy cult following in a very short period of time. We had people eat at the truck every day for a year, multiple people. And, you know, with a food truck. One day we’re in San Clemente, the next day we’re in LA. So. John Corcoran: 22:29 So they’re traveling around following where you were. Wow. Daniel Shemtob: 22:32 Yeah, we called them Limeades, and they were badass. And I love them. So we had this cult following. This guy, Jason Neal, who was this amazing photographer slash, like, early food blogger, wrote about us a bunch, and he was kind of one of the first people to give us, you know, a spotlight. And he was talking to one of the producers of The Great Food Truck Race in season one when we launched. Season one came out like a month later. And so we saw it and we said, hey, if they do season two, pack our bags like we’re going. And so we had it in our mind that it was going to happen. But sure enough, like when they started casting the second season, they heard about us. We got on a call, Emily Sweet, who’s incredible and I’m still friends with her today, was the casting director. And she’s like, these guys are totally like animals. We have to put them on the show. And that’s how we got here. John Corcoran: 23:19 Yeah. And I also personally when I was in college, worked on a, a kind of a game show. So I was involved in the casting process and talked a little bit about that because, you know, casting is an interesting art form. You know, you want people that are characters, but they’re not too much of a character. Like, not gonna be too, too off there. So did you consciously try and play up your personality, or did you just figure I’ll be myself? And either it’ll work or it won’t work? Like, how did you go into that? Daniel Shemtob: 23:51 Okay, so watching season two, I’m a different human in season two. We were born for it. It was not only that we had such. Me and my ex-business partner Jason have so much rapport and we’re so argumentative. But it’s not in a way that’s like, you know, makes you feel like, oh, it’s kind of. John Corcoran: 24:11 Yeah, it’s uncomfortable. Daniel Shemtob: 24:13 It’s funny and annoying and kind of, you know, we both make fun of each other, but in a way that, like, you’ll also laugh and we’ll laugh in the process. You know. John Corcoran: 24:21 That’s like perfect for TV then. Daniel Shemtob: 24:23 Yeah. It was light hearted, controversial, and fun. And so it was good for Food Network. We were young and I was so cocky. I mean, in like, every episode I watch, I’m just, like, talking so much shit. And it’s like night and day from who I am, like, now. And also I never understood, you know, once you’ve been through a season of reality, you kind of understand, oh, what do they need for the storyline? Like, what am I going to say that they’re going to cut up and make me look like an asshole, right. So, you know, you kind of learn to like what, what the concept is. But yeah, I think we just played off of each other really well. We had a good time. We were doing really interesting things. We were a really strong culinary team, which I think they really wanted. And so I think we just had a good recipe for that. John Corcoran: 25:04 Did you have any negative backlash after the fact there either in, I don’t know, the dating world or friendship world or where someone saw, you know, the, the shows and had a preconceived notion about who you are or anything like that. Daniel Shemtob: 25:22 So I had Ruby Tuesdays come after me for intellectual property. That was fun. John Corcoran: 25:27 Because of what. Daniel Shemtob: 25:28 They own. The word lime in a part of Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, which is like an unheard of trademark that, like every attorney knows, is complete bullshit and everyone says, is someone bribing someone in the New York office? Yeah. And the guy who sued me was pretty, pretty ruthless. John Kunkel I remember him quite well. And so I think that was something that came negative out of the show. The California Department of Sales Tax was like, oh, if you’re doing $15,000 in one episode, how come you’re showing so little on your tax returns and on your well, it’s TV. What are you talking about? There’s a camera crew outside of my truck, and the Food Network’s there. Like, that’s not how every day happens on this food truck. Yeah. So there were weird things that came out of it that, like, were kind of unexpected, you know, from getting all that exposure. But I mean, definitely the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to. John Corcoran: 26:19 Yeah. So let’s talk about Covid first and then we’ll get into that. So you ended up acquiring a couple of different catering companies. And at this point you’re doing $15 million a year. And it goes down to about a fifth of that after Covid hits. But take me back to March of 2020, because we’re recording this about almost exactly five years after that happened. But you know what’s going through your mind as everything starts to unfold? Daniel Shemtob: 26:46 Oh, man. So I was in China getting my footwear. We had it on the final production line when Covid was happening there, and I saw it and they were freaking out about it. While we were there. I said, you know, I don’t think much of it. I came back, my team at Lime Truck was like, hey, this is our best month we’ve ever had. Like, this is awesome. Like, everything is going really well. And then in just a short period of time, you know, everybody started canceling and then it became, are we going to keep the nonrefundable deposits? No, we’re a legacy brand. We shouldn’t be doing that. How are we going to keep the lights on? And I sold all my assets immediately. And it was just it was like, basically I always think of the reference of like, you know, if you’re in a casino, like if you have chips, you still have a chance. And so I basically cashed out just to be able to stay in the casino and not cash out of the game. And I had everything go wrong. Could have gone wrong in that next nine, ten, ten months when it came to that business. And it was just a lot of everyday working 15 hours a day to figure out what the future is going to look like, pivoting and shutting down. Unfortunately, a lot of the businesses and some of the things that I bought, you know, prior to Covid. John Corcoran: 27:58 And at the same time the footwear business. So explain what the footwear business is. So Snbs is the name of it. Daniel Shemtob: 28:03 Yeah. Snbs. So we make slip resistant footwear for hospitality, healthcare for people who work on their feet all day. And it started because I slipped and fell in the kitchen. It put me into paralyzing pain. I was out cold, I racked up tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and I just wanted to create something better for our industry and the. John Corcoran: 28:26 The idea is solid, right? Creating something that’s more tactile and that you’re less likely to slip. Not something I imagined that hadn’t been attempted before. So I mean, did you get into it with what materials you’re going to use, like how did you seek to solve this challenge that others have, I’m sure, tried to tackle before? Daniel Shemtob: 28:50 Yeah. I mean, the slippers aren’t footwear that have been around forever, but they look terrible. It feels terrible. The materials are bad. They’re using running shoes, which aren’t supposed to be on your feet for more than one hour at a time. So they’re compressing, hurting your lumbar. So I said, you know what? I’ll make it better. I’ll bring all of the industry knowledge that I know. I’ll test them in the kitchen. I’ll partner with one of the top doctors in the world to make them good for you, which I named the company after him, because when we took that shoe to a facility to test it, it tested number one of every shoe manufacturer out there. Shoes. It tested against them for insole and midsole resilience, which protects your lumbar. And so basically, I just took it one step at a time. And I didn’t copy anyone in the industry. And it took me five years to make, I believe, the best product that our industry has ever seen. John Corcoran: 29:40 And so that actually took off in March of 2020 as the lime truck was going down. So talk a little bit about how you managed your time and your focus and all that kind of stuff. Daniel Shemtob: 29:53 Yeah, I think so. We launched in March of 2020. I figured we were toast. Like our footwear is for medical professionals, the industry. Unless you were in the front line, no one was doing elective surgeries, no one was doing medical. And the front line workers were overwhelmed. Then you went to hospitality and there was a forced shutdown. So the idea of selling products to our industry felt to me really like mismatched. It felt like if you care about your industry, my whole company’s mission is to elevate the worker. How would I be asking them to buy a pair of shoes when they’re in such trouble? And so what I did was I ended up deciding to go and give away a bunch of pairs to the industry, which gave my guys hours because I took it on my food truck. And you get tacos and a free pair of shoes. And it was like this fun thing we did. And I had 7000 pairs of inventory that I over ordered, which is what everyone told me not to do. We gave away about 600 700 pairs of shoes in that first month. I sold out all 7000 pairs in the next 60 days. John Corcoran: 30:49 So just from giving away those then the like, it created a buzz or it created an awareness or they told their friends about it. Daniel Shemtob: 30:56 I believe it was a huge part of it. We had a Kickstarter that did really well. We had, you know, a little bit of Facebook marketing that did really well, but it was just a product that was needed by the industry. And we built goodwill and we built something special, and that was our catalyst. And we did a couple million bucks and we sold out of inventory in like a few months. It was pretty crazy. John Corcoran: 31:16 Wow, wow. And then of course, there were supply chain issues that came on the heels of Covid. So were you able to, you know, order new batches or new supplies? Daniel Shemtob: 31:27 We’re here today. Yeah, yeah. It took some time though. We had about a three month lull where we had no product. John Corcoran: 31:33 What have been some of the highs before we get to know the fires this year. But what are some of the highs and lows in the last five years of building that company? Because that’s a very different model right. Like, rather than like, you know, the skills I’m sure that went into building up the lime truck and, you know, and food based businesses are very different from selling shoes or are they or maybe they aren’t. Daniel Shemtob: 31:58 You know, I always say that if you’re successful in hospitality, you kind of have the basic building blocks of entrepreneurship down, because in hospitality you manage people, which is arguably and you’re managing a more difficult group of people because a lot of them aren’t using this as a professional stepping stone or as their future. They’re saying like, oh, you know, it’s a job. And so you have to be able to convince and grow people who might not see this as their, you know, lifetime career. And that’s really difficult. You have to learn real estate and leases because you have brick and mortar. You have to learn inventory and cogs, but you have to learn it because it’s perishable and it’s really expensive. And so I feel like, you know, you get like it’s like the air of business, like you get a little taste of everything. Like, sure, I never learned digital marketing as deeply as I learned when I launched the footwear brand. I didn’t learn sourcing in China, really, because that was something we were doing at the time. So I got some new skill sets in the process. But every step of my career, I’ve been prepping for the next right. And so that’s probably what I would say are highs and lows. I think the most difficult thing for us was that we misinterpreted the landscape of venture. So when we launched was 2020 and VCs and e-commerce businesses were all about lifetime value and growing the business. And if you’re not first order profitable, it’s okay. And I remember talking to my business coach specifically for footwear and I said, hey, I’m at a crossroads. I could either be profitable and I’ll grow relatively slowly, but I’ll grow using cash that I’ve earned, you know, and contribution margin to grow this business. Or I could go raise a bunch of capital and spend a lot of money to acquire customers and grow really quickly. But, you know, it’s going to be a huge negative. And I did it, you know, unfortunately the latter. So I grew the business really quickly and raised a bunch of capital. And then the landscape for ventures switched really, really bad. And then you had Allbirds, who went from being this great IPO to being, you know, just tanked. And so that everyone looked at the industry of e-commerce poorly, everyone looked at DTC poorly, everyone looked at footwear. Even worse, because the main person that they’re competing against is so bad. And so I think that was a big misstep because then fundraising became challenging, closing that round, recalibrating to become a profitable business. That took a little bit of time to kind of unwind and grow. And we’re coming out of that right now. We’ve had growth every year, which is amazing, but we’re now doing it more consciously so that it’s sustainable. John Corcoran: 34:44 Yeah. And you, you still have the company. So that’s a good thing. There’s lots of people. I’ve heard that story many times before where people have, you know, the ultimate is that they end up losing control of the company because they gave away too much control or too much equity through the VC process. So that’s a positive. Daniel Shemtob: 35:01 Yeah. Yeah. So that was tough. And then on a separate note, I would say in the last five years, the thing we haven’t talked about, but is actually the thing that threw me off my game. The hardest was losing my mom. So in 2020, she passed from breast cancer. And if anyone who knows me well knows me like my mom is a direct reflection of who I am and was my biggest cheerleader in a lot of ways. She was really responsible for raising me, and she was the one who gave me my seed money for my food truck and all the support to be an entrepreneur. So I think that happened in the middle of all of this. And so it was both a financial challenge and loss and a business loss. But then it was personal. And so it was like a very difficult time. It was probably the hardest time and hopefully the hardest time in my life. John Corcoran: 35:48 And I don’t know if this is opening up a really long story, but I remember you telling a story where you and I first connected was at a conference in Denver through Entrepreneurs’ Organization, and you told a story about her. Do you want to mention that one? Daniel Shemtob: 36:01 It’s a little long, but I would say the thing that makes my mom such a defining character for me. Is she? She has been resilient herself. She went from having two really difficult marriages to becoming a homeopathic doctor, because when I was little, I had epilepsy and no one could cure me. And she took me to all these naturopaths, and one of them was a homeopath. And the homeopath cured me. And she was so inspired, she became one of the top homeopaths in the world. She wrote a book, everything. So it’s, you know, she was always redefining herself. She learned how to speak French. In her 50s. She learned how to play piano. She would travel by herself because unfortunately, I was really busy working and I didn’t travel with her. And so she was just a Renaissance woman and always had a growth mindset and always believed in herself. And I remember when I was cleaning out her house, I saw her journals and I love reading them because they were manifestation logs and they were like, they were so inspiring. And this woman, you know, had to immigrate, came here, had a really bad marriage, had a, you know, a really tough life. And she still stayed positive through all of it. And, you know, I remember I hadn’t gone to her new office. She moved offices about a year before she passed, and I got to her new office, and she had a view of the ocean. And I know that was important for her. And it was a little slice, and it’s all she needed. And it was like. And I was like, this woman did what she wanted, how she wanted. And, you know, she kind of played chess in a weird way with what things were. And I think she had, you know, some challenges to overcome that maybe she didn’t let go of by the time she passed. But if I could end up being, you know, just like her in a lot of ways, I would be just totally fine with that. John Corcoran: 37:39 Well, I think you are, because you remain positive in spite of all the setbacks that you’ve been through, from Covid to personal bankruptcy to losing your mom. And we haven’t even gotten to the most recent one, which is the LA fire. Daniel Shemtob: 37:51 So we’re out of time. John. John Corcoran: 37:52 Yeah, I know she’s so you are destined for an amazing 2025 and 2026 given everything you know. So you put in your chits. So yeah. January 2025. I’m from LA. I turn on the news and it’s just this story that we’ve seen many times before, except this time it was ten times worse. So take me back to that moment. What? What was unfolding for you? Daniel Shemtob: 38:17 Yeah. So I remember every year we go to Hawaii, my wife and I, to unwind for the new year. It’s like our thing. And so every time I’m there, I spend, I don’t know, like 15, 20 hours on maybe more on goal setting and what I want the next year to be like and things like that, really, really thoughtful and intentional. And I got back and I had this amazing investor dinner set up, and I had all these things that I wanted. And it was Tuesday. We got home on Sunday, so two days after we got home and I’m living my plan like everything is going well, blah blah blah blah. And when I go outside, I see our hill on fire. It’s about a mile and a half from my house. Zero chance. I think coming down the hill to where I live in Huntington is really far from any nature. We’re in the downtown Palisades, as they call it. And so I got in my car, assuming that I was going to beat traffic for the evacuation. Don’t bring anything with me. Same with my wife. Our in-laws were with us. Same with them. And that night, we lost our house and everything in it. And it was a big bummer. My wife was, at the time, five months pregnant, I think. It’s welcoming. Our first child. She’s now eight and a half months pregnant. And so we moved there to build our family. The in-laws were building a home on the street. My brother moved to that neighborhood. Her brother lives in that neighborhood. So we kind of had what I would call the American Dream in LA. The Palisades is like a neighborhood. Kids are out on their bikes like it’s really cool and beautiful. John Corcoran: 39:48 It is. Yeah. Daniel Shemtob: 39:49 Yeah. So, yeah, I lost my house in that. And John Corcoran: 39:51 And your brother lost his house also. Daniel Shemtob: 39:53 Brother lost his house also. All my mom’s stuff was split between our two homes. That was. Yeah. So. Yeah, it was one of those things where it was just really instant and. Difficult. John Corcoran: 40:09 I know that you threw yourself into your work, and you got involved with World Central Kitchen, and you’ve given away thousands of meals after the fire. And we’re only two months into this right now. Tell me a little bit about what that experience has been like for you. Daniel Shemtob: 40:27 Yeah. So I feel like everything in my life, it’s like this, you know, kind of a training for the next stage of my life. Hopefully it’ll get easier, but that’s just been the reality of it. And so right after the fire, it was Tuesday. Wednesday. We’re living in my wife’s aunt’s house. You know, there’s like three displaced families living there, kind of in a way. And it’s depressing. I’m taking baths every 15 minutes. That’s what I do when I’m not feeling well. And I can’t be alone. I can’t think about anything. I’m just having a hard time kind of processing, and I felt all of the same feelings. I felt deep Covid right after my mom passed. And so instead of this time, you know, that time it took me months to snap out of. And this time it took me just a little bit of time because, you know, one, it’s only stuff. Which stuff is important? I love stuff like and the vision and everything like and money, a lot of money that we lost in the process. But it was still just monetary things. And having lost my mom, that was, you know, not monetary. And so I remember it being like Friday and I’m like, that’s it. I’m gonna get out of this. Like, I’m not going to let this define me. I’m going to like, I’m going to let this be part of my story, but not make this like the end of my story, you know? And so I called World Central Kitchen, and I had been donating to them and collaborating with Snibbs. So we have like a shoe we did in partnership with them. And so I’d always been a fan of World Central Kitchen, knowing what they do and how cool they are. And I said, hey, I’m sure you guys are going to start doing some stuff here. If you do, I want to be the first to call. Sure enough, they called me back later that afternoon. Get on your truck Saturday. You’re working an event. And so Saturday I get on my food truck. Tyler Florence is there. Which is pure coincidence, by the way. They didn’t realize that Tyler and I have, like, five years of me being on his show for The Great Food Truck Race. And so he’s on my food truck. I don’t have a knife. He gives me his whole knife roll, which is a very personal thing, not a normal thing to give to somebody. And I serve 500 people with him literally hustling by my side. And we’re seeing people that have lost their homes smile. And like, one of the guys came up to me and had this whole talk about how this is the first moment he had had joy since he lost his home. And it was just one of those things where, you know, you just start to feel so grateful for what you have when you help others and you realize that I still have so much, even though I don’t have all the stuff I had just a week ago, I still have my health. I still have my dog. I still have my baby on the way. I still have my wife, you know, like and granted. We landed on our feet, you know, like it’s not like I’m still living in a nice part of LA, like everything’s fine, you know? And so I think it shifted my perspective. And it being called to service is just awesome. John Corcoran: 43:08 Yeah. Daniel, looking back on your life and you’ve mentioned a bunch of individuals, of people who’ve helped you in the journey along the way. I’d love to take a break at the end here. And just as my last question asks about gratitude and in particular, you know, it’s fair enough to mention family and things like that or team. But I love to hear stories of peers, contemporaries, maybe mentors. He mentioned that guy who invited you to the basketball game when you were 16 years old. Who in particular would you want to thank for helping you in your journey so far? Daniel Shemtob: 43:45 No, I got it would be almost impossible, but I would, you know, it’s it’s. My brother gave me a Rich Dad, Poor Dad when I was 13. Like what? What? You know what I mean. Like what? What an advantage of the world when your dad and your older brother are telling you it’s a kind of a rat race, like you got to get out of it. I think of one specific person. So in EO, which we’re in, they do a mentorship program. My first mentor, Emilio Diez Barroso. I love Emilio, I ‘m like, hey, we think you’re kind of weird in EO and he’s a weird typo. So we’re putting you together. This guy, he wrote a book, by the way. You could look him up. He is absolutely the moment that everything changed for me and that was him. And it was like he taught me how to build confidence. He taught me that I’m worthy, that, like, you know, that I’m going to do great things and that I need to learn how to be comfortable with where I’m at in the moment versus looking forward and looking behind me. And, you know, that practice brought me to presence, and presence brought everything after that. And so I feel like I’ve had a lot of great mentors and a lot of great people in my world. My mom, my brother, obviously family, we talked about Emilio, my coaches. Matt. I mean, I just got introduced to someone three months ago, Don Weiss, and I don’t know how I got so lucky. This guy has helped me so much. And he started four footwear startups from 0 to 100 million. And he’s this guy taking me under his wing. And it’s like, for what? He’s not getting anything out of it. He just decided that he retired a year ago, sold his company for a bunch of money, and he’s a little bit bored and wants to help somebody. And so he liked me and that was it. And it’s like, I don’t know, the world just brings you these amazing people. But like, you have to be ready. You have to be present and you have to be grateful. And I think, you know, on my to do list every day, there’s it’s kind of a lot. But my morning routine, I don’t know if you can see it up there because I don’t have a picture of myself on zoom. But the 10th one down is gratitude. The second one down is meditate. The third one is a journal. So it’s like I have to bring myself to be present and I have to be grateful and open and amazing people show up out of nowhere just to help you get where you want to go. John Corcoran: 45:54 There’s a great story. As Daniel, I appreciate you sharing that. And I have a few names of people, as you mentioned, that I want to introduce you to afterwards based on what you just said. So hopefully those will be names that, as you said, come out of nowhere and we’ll do good things for you. Daniel, where can people go to learn more about you and connect with you and learn more about Snibbs and The Lime Truck and all that stuff? Daniel Shemtob: 46:14 Yeah. I mean, I would say the place where I spend a little bit more time than others is either on LinkedIn or Instagram, and it’s just my name, Daniel Shemtob. But yeah, those would be the easiest ways. I have a masterclass on food trucks, and I have a book on food trucks in case that’s something you want. I feel like I’ve really mastered that world, and I love giving back to that community because I think they’re awesome. But yeah, those would be great. John Corcoran: 46:34 Daniel, thanks so much. Daniel Shemtob: 46:36 Thanks, John. Outro: 46:39 Thanks for listening to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast. We’ll see you again next time and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.