JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For years, Tryon Bennett and his wife Lateefa have been saving up to buy their own food truck. This year, they finally had enough money and launched their business, Heart and Soul.
In February, Bennett says the truck was attending tons of events.
In the beginning of March, he and his wife transitioned to full time for their business. Later that month, things took a turn.
A driver hit their food truck on I-95, causing damage that cost them thousands of dollars. They had to close their doors.
“It was very very hurtful. It hurt us. We're physically hurt. We’re still going through physical pain. We're going through physical therapy. But our financial pain, you know, not being open, now we're going into May over the weekend. So March 30th to May 1st, that’s a whole month of not being open," Bennett said.
Bennett says while he may have been discouraged, he and his wife didn’t give up. He’s hoping his story encourages other business owners to stay strong through the storms.
“That is something that I would encourage and tell people don’t give up, don’t give in, and continue to move on if you are a new business owner. You’re going to have issues, but its how you rebound. The mentality is that were coming back bigger and stronger than before," said Bennett.
Bennett and his wife will be taking their new food truck to its first event next weekend at the St. Augustine Food and Wine Festival.