Eggman's Story
The Short Version
2018.. when a New Yorker visits Austin Texas.. "Tacos?.. For breakfast?"
When I first came to Austin on a business trip I stayed at a hotel downtown and was running late.
I was rushing to get to my rental car so I could be on time to the clients office. I took an elevator downstairs to the first floor and saw a woman behind the desk at a coffee shop.
So I hurriedly asked her “Do you guys have any breakfast sandwiches?” She replied, “Breakfast sandwiches? Well.. we have breakfast tacos” as she pointed down to tacos wrapped in foil.”
And I look at her and go, “TACOS?.. FOR BREAKFAST???”.
She laughed and I said to her jokingly “Where I'm from we don't usually eat tacos for breakfast.. it's usually for lunch or dinner”...
Since that was my only option I picked up a few egg tacos and rushed out the door.
The next day I Googled "Breakfast sandwiches near me" and to my surprise Waffle House, Panera Bread, and IHOP came up as options. 🤦♂️
I thought to myself.. "where are the bacon egg and cheese sandwiches at??".. where's the bodega deli with the cat hanging out in the front that I was so used to growing up in New York. It was a major culture shock for me.
These experiences made me realize there’s a MAJOR opportunity for good, quality NYC breakfast sandwiches in Austin.
Thus, Eggman was born... well sort of.. not until 2024 (read the long version to get the full deets) 🍳
The Long Version
Been slingin' eggs since the 90s
At 8 years old my parents got divorced.
Born and raised in New York I grew up with my father in a beautifully modest home.
My father, an amazing man and single parent had the sole responsibility of taking care of me all on his own.
My father is a well-educated man and always pushes me (to this day) to be smart with my finances, have a great education, and have a great job.
We were considered middle class.
We were not poor financially by any means but looking back I grew up around a scarcity mindset around money and finances.
My father was not a businessman, nor had a desire for business, and had worked in a trade and union most of his career.
He would always say things to me like:
“Get an education. Get a good job. Save your money. Put it away. Only use your credit card for emergencies. Get rid of any debt. And don’t have any debt.”
My father was an Elevator Mechanic in New York City and worked his ASS OFF for me every day to support me, my wellbeing, and my future.
He would commute 3 HOURS A DAY on the train from home down to Manhattan, FOR over 20+ years!
As a single parent and a long commute my father sat me down and said, “Rich, when I’m not here I need you to take care of yourself.”
As an 8 year old I had to grow up REALLY FAST and start taking care of myself at such a young age.
I did my own laundry and I cleaned...Well… sometimes I did.. . My room was usually a mess. My dad can attest to that.
And most importantly I slowly learned HOW TO COOK for myself.
This is where my fascination with food started
Lunch was mainly served at school but what about my breakfast and dinner?
Well my dad was already out the door by the time I woke up in the morning so I was usually on my own.
He’d wake up at 4am and be out the door by 4:30. Then I’d get up around 6am for school and make myself breakfast. After school I’d cook myself dinner.
Every day I would go on my computer and search “online”...well at the time we had 56k modems and AOL... so the internet was REALLY SLOW… even to load a text-based page.
When I was on my computer I would find and learn a new recipe to cook for myself every day.
I would learn different recipes to cook myself for dinner because my dad usually got home pretty late in the evening.
I eventually stuck with certain recipes for breakfast and dinner.
My specialty for breakfast was eggs. I learned basically EVERY way to cook them.
Then I’d have a side of toast a piece of fruit for breakfast.. Not bad for a kid.
When I came home from school for dinner I’d cook chicken breast or tenders and a side salad with cooked veggies like green beans, peas, or potatoes.
I was so eager to learn about how to provide for myself and cook food because it felt so great to take ingredients and build a delicious meal out of it.
It felt AMAZING to CREATE something out of nothing
I was even more eager to learn new cooking techniques and more importantly to make some money.
So at 15 years old I decided to get my “working papers”. Which at the time entitled me to work a part-time job.
My first job was not necessarily at a 5-Star Restaurant.. But it was a close second at a Fast Food place. I started working my first job at a Burger King. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!
I learned so much behind the scenes about systems, people, and processes... and also got discounted and sometimes even free food!
To make it even more awesome my friend Mike worked there with me and we always had a blast when we were on the same shift.
One time I was on my break, he was in the back, and I had order one of the value meals with a cheeseburger and fries.
Well when the food came out the burger was stacked up with FIVE beef patties..
My coworker ringing me up didn’t even notice that he had just hooked me up with basically five burgers in one sandwich!!
I’d also do the same for him when he went on break.. it was hilarious!
After learning a bit more about “food” I got a new job working at the local grocery store.
Here I also got some awesome discounts and perks.
This is where I really shined and enjoyed it because: I could go to work, get paid, then use that money to buy groceries… where I am already.. Then I could go home and cook.
It was perfect.
Before that I also worked for Domino’s Pizza as a delivery boy and it was excellent money for a kid my age until I called out once or twice (because of my girlfriend at the time..haha) and got fired over the phone. WOOPS!
Then when I attended college I got a job working as a security guard for a bit but found it really boring so I decided to look into a restaurant job.
I had prior experience working with food but unfortunately the Outback Steakhouse I applied to only had a busboy position at the time.
I figured “screw it, it’s probably more money than I’m making now and I can always work my way up!”
So the next day I walked into Outback Steakhouse for an interview and took a “menu test” sheet where I would learn the menu items, descriptions, and everything about the food they served.
I LOVED THIS! CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, I thought.
That night I studied MY ASS OFF, every single word and fine detail about every menu item was burned into my brain.
Worth noting back then you had to write the entire menu items and not "fill in the blanks".
The following day I came back for the menu test and I TOTALLY CRUSHED IT.
Even though I only started bussing tables I eventually worked my way up to being a Takeout Server, then to a Server in the dining area.
I met so many awesome celebrities working there like The Undertaker, a WWE wrestler, the New York Giants football team, where I actually peed in the urinal next to Eli Manning, and..
..Yolanda Vega, a local NY Lottery celebrity that my dad always had such a crush on HAHA!
I told her this and she mailed him an autographed photo! The phone call from him when he got that photo in the mail was priceless.
I thought IT was the path..
When I graduated college I moved to Syracuse NY where I started my career in Information Technology.
Oh yea.. Forgot to mention that.. I had been studying Computer Science in undergraduate program.. Even though later on I found out I was really bad at programming in an academic environment..
Growing up I really enjoyed computers early on in high school in my Computer Repair class which led me to pursue this industry.
After working in the corporate world for 5 years, moving across financial services, software, and consulting I had saved up enough money for a down payment on my first home.
I took months to search for a home and decided to buy in an area close to my hometown.
Unfortunately, however, a few weeks before closing I received a phone call from my manager at the time.
“Rich, I’m sorry to tell you this news but we’re laying off a large number of people and unfortunately you’re one of them.”
I was in COMPLETE shock I could barely respond to him so I said, “thank you”, and hung up the phone.
There were so many thoughts going through my head: How will I pay my rent? How am I going to eat? How will I find a new job?
This was one of the moments in my life that shaped me into the Entrepreneur I’ve become today.
So to prevent me from becoming poor I applied for unemployment, which gave me the means to help pay for my rent, but I needed more money to continue my lifestyle.
On this day I decided two things:
1. I am going to learn how to improve my skills through A TON of self development to learn things like Investment, Wealth, Entrepreneurship, Sales, and Marketing
AND
2. Learn how to start and grow my own business.
I started going to the public library EVERY DAY, would take out the maximum number of books I could, put them in my backpack, and bring them home.
The library was my new heaven of knowledge.. And best part was it was FREE!
I eventually started a small digital marketing agency.. It was based on the knowledge I learned from all of these books, my professional experience, and the electives I had taken in grad school.
I would help build websites and teach small businesses how to use Social Media and SEO for their brands.
I was determined to succeed.
Also, I finally got my first client. A company launching their retail store.. they needed a website, Social Media help, and SEO consulting.
I was SO PUMPED UP. I had made my first sale!! The best part was when I got paid, of course.
Then after many months of interviewing with the top tech companies in the U.S. I finally landed a job in a little southern city called Charleston, South Carolina.
I couldn’t pass it up this opportunity because I had been unemployed and it was my ONLY JOB OFFER… despite going through multiple rounds and getting to the last round of every job interview I had.
So I got up and moved to Charleston where I worked at a company for a few years while building myself back up.
Self development gave me the boost
Over those years I spent EVERY EVENING working on myself and skills EVEN MORE SO THAN BEFORE.
I thought to myself: “I’m never going to let another layoff happen to me again”.
Every evening I spent learning about Business, Marketing, and Sales.
I took evening classes, got my Real Estate license, and started another Digital Marketing Agency under a new name.
I must have spent over $25,000 in self development courses and seminars over those years and learned from some of the best in Business, Marketing, and Sales.
I wanted to build my brand SO MUCH that I became obsessed with reading 10 pages in a book every SINGLE day.
I was listening to podcasts, watched YouTube videos, listened to millionaires, read blog posts, and read biographies about billionaires on my commute into work, on my way back, and when I got home… with the occasional Netflix binge of course.
Sooner or later I started executing the ideas I had learned over the years and I was crushing it.
The business trip that sparked the idea.. a New Yorker visiting Austin Texas.. No good breakfast sandwiches?
Fast forward to 2018..
When I first came to Austin on a business trip I stayed at a hotel downtown and was running late.
I was rushing to get to my rental car so I could be on time to the clients office. I took an elevator downstairs to the first floor and saw a woman behind the desk at a coffee shop.
So I asked her “Do you guys have any breakfast sandwiches?” She replied, “Breakfast sandwiches?
Well.. we have breakfast tacos” and she pointed down to tacos wrapped in foil.” And I look at her and go, “TACOS?.. FOR BREAKFAST???”.
She laughed and I said jokingly “Where I'm from we don't usually eat tacos for breakfast.. it's usually for lunch or dinner”... So I picked up a few tacos and rushed out the door.
That experience made me realize there’s an opportunity for NYC breakfast sandwiches in Austin.
Fast forward to 2022.. when I moved to Austin Texas
I had just been laid off twice in 9 months from two tech companies (ironically enough for doing a "side hustle") and asked myself how I could make a positive impact on humanity while also doing what I love.
The week after my 3rd career layoff I took time for myself to just think about what I want to do next. I went to several local parks and walked in nature to see if anything would "come to me" and my intuition.
While hiking it then dawned on me.. back in 2014 I created this business plan called "Eggtopia" it was based on a company I really liked called Potatopia that served a fast casual potato bowl to customers.. and I thought to myself why not provide a similar situation offering in Austin Texas.
Also I knew there was a need to have a good breakfast sandwich here.. I was honestly getting sick of tacos for breakfast.
The layoffs, to me, were a sign from the universe to go ALL IN on my passion.
If you're familiar with the IKIGAI concept:
1. Do what you're good at
2. Do what you love
3. Do what you can be paid for
4. Do what the world needs (or in this case what Austin Texas needs)
This is where Eggman lined up for me because I love to create, serve, and am pretty DAMN good at it too. :) 🍳