Introduction

That's Anna Hagopian and Sol Solis, in the early days of Paleo Fit Meals. See, the girls met at a Crossfit Gym one day, and as they left they found they both had the same complaint - you spend hours working out, you step outside hungry, and before you know it you've been tempted into something so terrible for you that it's completely undone your whole day's work! Now, they bring dishes based on the Paleo diet - no gluten, no dairy, lots of protein, all natural - to the coolers of gyms around the city. Since I've joined the team, we've served the Crossfit Games event at Navy Pier as the sole food vendor, and Anna's Paleo Cookies have started appearing in grocery stores here and there.

I help them, twice a week, because this guy introduced me to them:

Danny Herrera and I met when we were both part of the opening team at the Carriage House. Turns out, he and his brother Lou had always dreamed of running a food truck, so when Chicago legalized full-service trucks, he took off to start building his baby. Around the time he was putting the finishing touches on it, I joined up, and soon the Windy City Patty Wagon began cooking gourmet burgers to order. While an "average week" would see us serving downtown, Hyde Park, and the north side, we've yet to have anything like an "average week"! We started our run with three consecutive 4am-4pm days at the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Joliet Speedway, and since then we've been back for two NASCAR races and a drag race; we've served kayakers getting off river tours with Kayak Chicago, done block parties, classic car shows, employee appreciation day at the Allstate facility, and much more.

Both companies are small, with no more than six people on staff at each, and everyone involved puts everything they have into their work - because, for us, there is no corporate safety net, no trust funds to fall back on; if we don't all work our hardest, nobody gets paid. The road to success for small, self-funded businesses today is not an easy one, but Sol and Danny both have solid histories in running businesses, and everyone else is dedicated, experiences, and irreplaceable. Is that enough to make it? Follow along with me a few times a week, and we'll all find out the answer together. I'll be sharing stories from the kitchen and the road, occasional recipes, and bios of the dozen players in this game.