01/06/2022
Hey Planet Earth! This is Dana (Dunna). The other Co Founder of Smile High. I want to thank you for reading this in advance and I hope life, the holidays and everything else has been treating you well overall despite any difficulties.
3 months ago I made one of the toughest decisions of my life and that was to put in my 90 day notice to walk away from Smile High and have my business partner Lundon buy me out.
It took me a solid 2-3 weeks of nonstop thinking to really analyze the situation before dropping the big news on him. It was a lot of pressure to get a grip on knowing if I was making the right decision as I knew I would be sacrificing some value no matter how you look at it.
Being deep in this business has taught me so much about knowing what my actual values are in life and made me take a closer look at who I really am wholeheartedly. With the lifestyle this business brings in the long run I realized that it just wasn’t for me personally. I had to get more thorough and realistic with where my values align as we only live once in this precious thing we call life.
I want to passionately express that I absolutely do not regret anything this journey has brought us. This has to be one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever encountered and I feel like I have a whole ‘nother bachelor’s degree under my belt with how much wisdom and experience I’ve embraced. With this new chapter in my life I can honestly say that I love who I’ve become and am even more confident in who I’m becoming. Everyone should be a business owner at least once to really understand and face the dynamics that it takes to operate a business and be able to soak in all the layers of wisdom that it comes with. Trust me, there is way more that goes on behind the scenes when operating a business than one might think and this can still be an understatement. I am saying this though with love and encourage you all to challenge yourself with trying something you’ve never done so you can reach new heights because you will see things from angles you never knew existed. There is no such thing as wasted effort and you will only open doors to what’s better for you as you continue progressing!
I want to personally thank my bro and business partner Lundon for pushing me and helping me fill a lifelong void of what it’s actually like being an entrepreneur! I wouldn’t have made it this far in the business without him as we for real make a great team with how our strengths balance out! 2 and a half years ago he brought me the idea of a food truck and I emphasized that if we are going to do this we are not going to be an average food truck and not be an average brand. We will be different and focus on the people and their experience with Smile High! I knew from my core and my soul that we were going to create a brand that’s impeccable as we’ve both made numerous impacts at both of our corporate jobs for 7+ years together. We both knew what we bring to the table and knew that we are both positively stubborn when it comes to reaching our successes. I cannot believe how we actually manifested the vision and really created something so beautifully unique together. It made us acknowledge that anything is possible if you are persistent as I remember those days of serving plates at our corporate job and getting feedback from our peers just before starting the business in the middle of 2019. We both were not chefs at all. Just experienced customer service gurus. I remember the days of going back and forth countless times to Denver when our truck was being built, analyzing costs of goods, understanding licensing, watching other food trucks and their interactions knowing that we can do it too. I remember those days of working crazy, long overtime hours at our corporate job to be able to go into the business with as much minimized debt as possible! I remember and won’t ever forget the blood, sweat and tears to get our business on a roll even with the emerging stages of Covid back in the Spring of 2020 to top off some of our own personal challenges overall along the way. With perseverance our brand was born and became unstoppable in just 8 months after opening the business and I promise you we were humble at first about it. A whole 111 five star customer reviews altogether through multiple platforms only within 8 months of operating spoke volumes! It wasn’t just our food. It was our charisma. It was showing everyone that we can make a difference in their day with kindness and compassion while serving good-mood-food! The world is already so messed up as it is and we wanted to sort of be an escape.
We definitely had an amazing thing going but it doesn’t always mean it’s the best for one’s situation. Happiness is the best currency! And I’m happy we are both choosing to move forward with what aligns with each of our own values by closing down Smile High and putting the business up for sale. I’m staying at my corporate job that I love and gives me the benefits and work/life balance I need to maintain my life’s purpose. Lundon is moving back to Arkansas after I think 8 years now in the 719 so he can get be closer with his family, childhood friends and get closer to his values as well ultimately.
I am beyond grateful for becoming who I am today with Smile High playing a major impact! I am grateful for my partner Lundon and everything we went together through to get here! I am grateful for all of our Smile High fans, your constant support, your shares on social media and overall being there for us because we wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Thank you for letting us be us. And for helping us get closer to who we are as people.
Remember:
You are more than good enough. Anything is possible. And the closer you are to your values, the closer you are to your happiness.
Wishing you nothing but deep joy and prosperity.
Sincerely,
Dana
