How this Columbus restaurant owner created a space for uplifting women in business.

When Angie White and her husband, Jeff, opened a food truck in 2018 she found a need for a network of women in business who could work together to help support each other’s endeavors.

Jeff retired from the Army in 2018, and the couple began looking for his next career.

“He was a tanker in the Army,” White told the Ledger-Enquirer. “It doesn’t translate into the civilian world.”

Their solution was the lime green food truck named Tuesdays Street Tacos & Burritos. White had worked as a bartender since 1997, and she’d always known the food and beverage industry was male-dominated.

This fact was odd to her because the stereotype would have women in the kitchen instead of the men. But the food industry is the opposite.

When getting Tuesdays off the ground, White found herself having to work with people who had the “good old boy” mentality, she said. Others she needed to do business with did not always show her respect, often talking down to her.

Frustrated with her experiences, White began the Women in Business Columbus GA Facebook group. A place where women in Columbus could network, give each other advice or be a safe space where they can air grievances.

As part of an ongoing series for Women’s History Month, the Ledger-Enquirer spoke with White about the challenges she faced in juggling her family life, starting a business and using Facebook to create a network of women in business supporting each other.

The answers have been edited for clarity and length.

Q: Tell me how you’ve managed to find success with Tuesdays Street Tacos & Burritos

A: We were the first full kitchen on wheels in Columbus. We started slowly in 2018, and then COVID happened.

All the indoor dining restaurants closed. We just had the truck, so everything we did was outdoor service. So, we continued doing what we were doing. Tuesdays was fortunate that we did not close down a single day during COVID.

That allowed us to grow into our restaurant. So we opened the restaurant in 2021, on Williams Road.

Q: Why did you and Jeff choose to sell street tacos and burritos?

A: My husband is from Southern California, and there was a need when we started. They have authentic Mexican restaurants, but there was a need for the Americanized SoCal Mexican food.

That’s what we’ve always claimed to be. These are all of our recipes, and they come from Jeff’s hometown of Yucaipa, California. It’s all inspired by his youth growing up, and there wasn’t a taco truck. Everybody loves tacos.

SoCal Mexican is what we strive to stay with. We also focus on Fusion, taking other cuisines and putting them in tortillas. But everything we do has that SoCal fusion twist to it.

Everything is fresh. If we can make it, we do. We make our own pico de gallo and sauces. Our corn tortillas are sourced from a family in Atlanta.

Q: Tell me about juggling family life with running a business.

A: We have 11-year-old twins, a 14-year-old daughter and a 23-year-old son. That’s initially why we designed the taco truck — quality of life was very important.

We wanted to write our own schedules. We’re not open late hours. We don’t serve liquor. We’re closed on Sunday and Monday because we like our families.

We just try to maintain that quality of life, so we can go to soccer games, lacrosse games or birthdays.

Luckily, because we did spend so much time in the truck, our customers have become an extension of our family. They know when we’re closed around the end of April, it’s because we’re doing birthdays. If we close for Thanksgiving, it’s because our staff is our extended family, too.

Q: Why did you create the Women in Business Columbus GA Facebook group?

A: This is going to sound very feminist, but I’m not a feminist at all. I do fully understand that there’s some things that women cannot do that men can.

But you always have to prove yourself. You’re always having to work harder to prove yourself when you know that you know what you’re doing. But you still have to just go above and beyond to prove your worth.

I thought that 20 years of experience in this field would have been enough, but when we opened I had to deal with people that are not supportive. I have never been spoken to the way I was talked to through this process by a few specific people, and it was just one of those things.

That’s why I started the women’s group. I think our first initial post was like, ‘Hey, this is a safe place for you to ask questions, and hopefully somebody in our group is going to have the answer for you. And we’re not going to judge you for it.”

We uplift each other. I’ve learned so many things through my struggles, and I don’t want anybody else to have to do that.

Q: Why did you start having in-person meetings with the group?

A: We started a meet-up because I think I just wanted to know them. I wanted to know the people that I was essentially going to be relying on for mental stability.

It’s not that people go in there and complain, but sometimes it’s like, ‘Are you guys getting this too? Did this happen or has this ever happened? What did you do?’

When you have a situation, and something happens to you, it feels like you’re crazy. It’s nice to feel validated when you talk to somebody and they go, ‘Yeah, that’s happened to me before.’

We just did a meet-up, and I was hoping to do it monthly. But then it just got bigger and bigger, and we tried to do it quarterly. We’re due for another one soon,too.

I try to plan meet-ups in places other than our businesses because if it’s hosted there, then we’re just going to end up working. The point is to be able to let your hair down, network and socialize. I’ve got to find a bigger space because it’s such a big group now.

Q: How has the group changed over the last two years since it began?

A: I love to see that it’s working for what it was set up to do. Sometimes, I feel like I’m not doing enough with it. I would love to be able to go in and support everybody’s success, but I really do try to engage the members to do that for each other as well.

It was a lot easier when there were like 20 of us. I have not been able to meet everybody and shake hands. But now some people are doing events of their own off of the group, which I love because they’re building bonds themselves.

I’m happy that people want to be a part of it.

Q: What advice would you give other young women thinking about starting their own businesses?

A: It really is such a true statement that if you find something you love to do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Hone in on what it is you’re good at because it’s not always about the money.

There’s quality of life to be had, and there are things more important. But doing something you love is most important.

Believe in yourself and know the juice is worth the squeeze.