Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Rivera Otts
Hi Elizabeth, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Where do I start? I started my first business when I was 14 years old. It was called “No Time to Shop”. I put together all the collateral, but didn’t think through the part where i had no car to shop for people. lol. I wasn’t a great student and had no real sense of direction until after my son was born in 1985 and I was almost 30. I went back to school and studied accounting with a minor in business law, which btw has saved me so much time and money.
After college, i worked for several companies as administrative assistant and learned all i could and i wanted to about corporate America. This led me to a company that did Viatical Settlements, which has to do with life insurance. During my time at that company i worked for a guy named David. He was tuff and a little crazy, but he pushed me and made me realize my potential. Unfortunately, he was not always very nice, so while I was writing the non compete for the employees, i set up my own company.
The viatical company lasted a few years, and it was very successful, however in 2000 the state of Florida changed the rules and caused all of the small viatical companies to go out of business.
It is devastating to give birth to a company and have it shut down overnight; both financially and mentally. It took 2 years of working for someone else for me to realize, through a lot of prayer, that all of the knowledge i had obtained could be applied to any business.
That led me to putting together Expos. I started Florida Business Expo, Then, Florida HealthCare Expo, and Wedding Event Designers.
One day a friend i had worked with in the expo/festival industry called and said she was working with food trucks and asked me to take over managing them. Of course, i am always up for a challenge so 2 days later I was managing food trucks with a new company called Food Truck Crazy, which now manages about 200 food truck events per month.
Currently we are looking at some exciting new opportunities to add to food truck management.
I think of all of the things i have done. I thank God for all of the opportunities and people he has put in my path.
First and foremost, my family who has been on the roller coaster ride with me, but always loves me the same.
And, so many friends and business advisors. People who gave me a chance without even knowing me. People that helped me financially when i didn’t even have gas money. I would give you a list of names (and i’ve tried creating one) but it would be far too many.
I hope to be able to continue to pay it forward and keep building business as long as i can. At this point, i don’t think retirement is in the cards for me. I have so many business ideas. Too many to stop now.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been a little rocky sometimes, and every day is not full of roses, but building business is my passion. I try to focus on the joy in building something, inviting people to join me and watching it grow.
In the tough times, it helped a lot to read about people who had become successful. Most of them have lost everything at some point and gotten back on the horse and tried again. I also read the Purpose Driven Life, which was an amazing source of inspiration.
So many people in my life have given me their prayers, their support and their love.
i have asked people for help that i never thought in a million years would open the door or answer the phone and was shocked to have them not only help but give me access to them whenever i needed it.
It’s awesome what some people will do to help if you just ask.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Food Truck Crazy, Inc?
Food Truck Crazy, Inc is a food truck management company that offers turn key food truck organization. We manage food trucks for a variety of events, corporations, festivals. We also offer catering and food truck rental.
We work with the biggest pool of food trucks in the State of Florida and while we are based in Orlando and do most of our work in Central Florida; we can also manage trucks anywhere in the State.
We are experienced, organized and affordable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.FoodTruckCrazy.com
- Instagram: Food Truck Crazy
- Facebook: Food Truck Crazy
- Twitter: Food Truck Crazy
