Daily Inspiration: Meet Telisha Williams

Today we’d like to introduce you to Telisha Williams.

Hi Telisha, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I can’t tell this story as an individual because I’m a part of a Dream Team and wouldn’t be where I am today without my partners. Doug Williams, Laura Schneider and I started Dreamers Food Truck during the 2020 Global Pandemic. Laura is a traveling photographer, and Doug and I are touring musicians from the band Wild Ponies. COVID turned our careers upside down, and through a series of interesting events, the 3 of us found ourselves living together in Rainbow Terrace, a small community in Madison, TN. In an effort to find joy and limit trips to the grocery store, we turned to meal planning and really enjoyed what we were coming up with. I pitched the idea of opening a Food Truck, and after a few weeks of tossing the idea back and forth, we started working on a business plan. We wanted our food truck to be a mobile community center. A place from which we could serve our community and feed all creative souls. Two weeks after opening, our food truck caught fire on the way to serve at Jackalope Brewery. We salvaged some ingredients and made our way to our commissary kitchen and sent our 42 meals to the houseless and hungry through S.A.F.P.A.W. the following day. Our community, folks from across the globe, surrounded us and asked how they could help, and a soupscription service was born. From December 2020 to March 2021, we made soups weekly at our commissary and served them to locals, and more than 1500 bowls were sponsored to continue that service to the houseless and hungry. We’re back on the food truck now and continue to carry a “pay it forward” menu item where folks can sponsor meals, and we set up monthly to serve them with our good friends at SAFPAW. During our first month back on the truck, 200 meals were sponsored. It’s an honor and a privilege to serve our community in this way.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting a business during a global pandemic is far from easy. Having that business catch fire makes it even more challenging, and now juggling our pre-pandemic careers with the rebuild of the food truck is, at times, overwhelming. It’s beautiful, though, and we’re finding a rhythm. We LOVE making a serving food. We really enjoy showing up and serving our community and collaborating with other creative food businesses. We feel great about where we are as a baby business.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The Dream Team (Dreamers Food Truck) is a team of creatives. Laura is a photographer and Doug and I (Telisha) are musicians. Our community is creative. That’s not to say that all of our friends are professional artists, it just means that we’re drawn to the curious, the observers, the deep thinkers, and the probers. We set out to create a food truck that serves creatives. Pizza and Bowls for Creative Souls! We offer a creative prompt alongside our menu board and encourage our customers to get creative. Take pictures, write poems, cook meals, create cocktails or dance – anything that the prompt might inspire you to do. We’re a mobile community center. Yes, we’re a food truck. We serve food, but we also gather creatives and spark their spirit.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Well, you can always “Pay It Forward”. We have a menu item that you can order at our Food Truck window and from our website. It’s fifteen dollars and sponsors two meals for the houseless and hungry. To date, we’ve served more than 1700 meals. Good meals. Delicious meals. The same meals that we serve our customers. Learn more at www.DreamersFoodTruck.com or follow us @DreamersNashville

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.DreamersFoodTruck.com
• Instagram: @DreamersNashville
• Facebook: @DreamersNashville
• Twitter: @DreamersNashville

Image Credits
All photos by Laura Schneider