Couple Raising Money For Food Truck Via Kickstarter

Sarasota residents Lauire and Sean McCoy can thank their kid’s busy schedules for giving them the inspiration for a new food truck they hope to launch this season.

The south Sarasota family is often on the go, shuttling their kids to sports games and practices, but when 9-year-old Blake had football practice seven nights a week, when were they going to feed him a good meal? Not all places have concession stands that sell more than a hot dog and if that, maybe a candy vending machine is nearby.

“What did we do, we ran through fast-food drive-thru complaining the whole time that this is stupid,” Sean McCoy says. “Someone should make a couple meals with options and sell ready-to-go home cooked meals.”

Enter Fat and Happy: The Tasty Food Truck.

“What parent doesn't want to walk to a truck to get something that's somewhat healthy as opposed to driving through McDonald's or head into Pizza Hut on the way home?” says Lauire McCoy.

The McCoys are doing something smart about it. They’re starting up Fat And Happy: The Tasty Food Truck, and are fundraising for the remaining $7,000 in capital via Kickstarter – the online fundraising site. Donors giving certain amounts get rewards, including 52 free breakfast or lunch sandwiches if you donate $500 or more. So far the couple has poured $70,000 into getting restaurant equipment and renovating an old welding truck.

In many ways, the story of the McCoys is part of Americans changing and adjusting how they work in due to the Great Recession, but still forging ahead to reach their dreams raising their own capital in a digital age and building a mobile business from scratch.

Inspiration

A perfect storm of the economy, a need for change and some safe schools started to turn the wheels for the food around 2001 in Ft. Lauderdale.

The McCoys lived in Ft. Lauderdale where Lauire would commute to manage a Kinko’s in West Palm Beach and Sean would manage another in South Beach.

Walking down Ocean Boulevard, boards promoting restaurant specials would catch the eye of Sean, who was then an untrained cook.

"I basically wasted a ton of money on ingredients that I had no idea how to deal with, but I was trying to replicate what they were doing,” Sean says lightheartedly. “I came up with a couple good ones and that was it."

The drive grew tiresome, they wanted their kids to attend quality and safe schools and Kinko’s was in the process of being merged with FedEx and Sean wasn’t happy after having to lay off staff.

Sean’s cooking improved, the life in South Florida became tiresome, so the McCoy’s agreed to move to Sean’s native Sarasota for good schools and eventually, a fresh beginning filled with food.

Sean was able to land a job as a prep cook at Ophelia’s By The Bay where he learned the basics — soups, stock, and machinery. His time there help build a foundation for his cooking, albeit a few Gordon Ramsay-type moments.

“Got yelled at a lot, got a lot of stuff thrown at me, got threatened, but I learned quickly,” Sean says, chuckling.

As he improved, he moved onto Stoneybrook Golf & Country Club, Metro Coffee & Wine and now at .

As he made all these meals, something was missing.

“I started thinking, wow, we really don't get to meet anyone that we're feeding,” Sean says. “We're putting together all this good food and specials and never get to judge reactions. We thought it would be a lot more fun than what I’m doing now.”

Lauire says those sandwiches he would make at Metro were a favorite.

“He makes fabulous soups and sandwiches, especially the sandwiches at the Metro were so popular, and we talked about possibly selling them downtown,” she says. “We didn't know how to go about that.”

Lauire used her business savvy experience running a massage therapy shop in Gulf Gate for 11 years, connections in the city and examined local food truck regulations to help get Sean’s food out to the masses aided with the Kickstarter component.

“We just didn't know which vehicle, and now it's a literal vehicle,” Sean says.

A standalone restaurant was too much to bite off in this economy, the couple says.

“Cooking is a creative gig,” Sean says. “You always want to make your own food, and opening your own restaurant is financially daunting.”

Banks aren’t lending for start-up restaurants, let alone mobile ones, Lauire added, so Kickstarter was the solution along with their savings.

The campaign ends Sept. 10, and if the $7,000 goal isn’t reached, the McCoys do not get to keep the money. So far, the campaign raised $1,455.

‘Fat And Happy’

When Sean doesn’t cook, the family does like to enjoy a nice meal from a favorite restaurant.

When Sean would have a good meal, he would say he would feel “fat and happy.” It’s a way of being — satisfied, complete and fulfilled from good food, he says.

“Mind you, just because we're called Fat and Happy doesn't mean we're unhealthy,” he adds. “We cook from scratch.

“We don't have a freezer. We don't have a fryer. We cook right. We're trained not to cut corners and to do every meal our best. Fat and happy is more your frame of mind after eating — not so much what our food is going to do to you.”

Sean is targeting breakfast as a soft opening to Fat and Happy, so he doesn’t have to quit his job to dive into a new venture.

“I know for me, breakfast is my favorite meal. What's better than eggs, they're so good. And the bread you get for breakfast, it just makes me happy,” he says.

“We're not really going to shy away from butter or bacon. If we'll make something gluten free, it's an accident, but enjoy,” he says. “We just want to make good food.”

As workers rush to get to their job on time, Sean envisions that those employees could stop by his truck, get a nice handheld breakfast to go, featuring eggs, grits, hash browns, soft serve yogurt and berries to start their day off right.

Eventually, he’d like to expand to lunch featuring seasonal specials, and working with local fishermen to have a catch of the day, but still trying to make familiar food with gourmet flair.

Truckin’ It

Sean pretty much has the food part down, but the truck is a work in progress.

He found an old welding truck in Miami, still with that fresh motor oil smell, perfect for conversion. Or, perfect for a handyman.

“When I got that truck back from Miami, I didn't know it only went 55 mph,” Sean says. “It was a five and a half hour drive form Miami and it was a welding truck, so there were all these bits of metal and rivets that rattled, rattled and rattled.”

The hazard lights wouldn’t stop blinking either.

“My buddy about had an aneurysm on Alligator Alley following me,” he says, jokingly.

So far, he has a grill loaded in, a window and screen installed, and the truck is pretty much gutted ready for a transformation and needs a paint job, but at least is safe to drive now. At least their 14-year-old daughter Helynea thinks so — she wants to learn how to drive using the food truck once she gets her learner’s permit, Sean says.

All of their kids are excited to be part of Fat and Happy. 

“Our 9-year-old (Beck) is dying to work the grill, but we told him he has to work his way up and start washing dishes,” Lauire says. And even 6-year-old Marley wants to work the salad bar, too.

“We've been working at this and throwing everything we have into this — our children,” Lauire says. 

Once Fat and Happy is rolling, expect to see them out and about in non-traditional places to get food out to people — churches for post-service meals, sports fields, bars, corporate parks and various Sarasota events.

Until then, the McCoys will work away preparing to launch, raising funds on Kickstarter and hope to find that the entire food truck business is as easy and fun as they were told.

“I haven't experienced any of the easiness yet,” Sean cracked.

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