Brother and sister team, Jaden and Amaya, began a food truck business in the city of Memphis at age 12 and 11 in 2017. The duo began with a card table and extension cord for their blender in the front yard and enlisted some of their friends to help advertise on the street corners. The snow cones became a quick success, earning the pre-teens $1000 in just two summers. With the help of their mom, they bought a van off Craigslist and brought it up to food truck standards for the city. This made them the city’s youngest food truck operators and one of a mere 30 “true” food trucks on the streets. Their mother, a single mom and registered nurse, drives the food truck on the weekends and Amaya works the window. Jaden has plans for expansion into the future with the goal of franchising their snow cone business. He sees this as a way to work smart and not unnecessarily hard.

Kool Kidz Sno Konez was made possible by an ordinance created in 2011 making it easier to enter business in Memphis. The family took full advantage of this and are now working towards a franchise. Jaden and Amaya represent the entrepreneurial spirit and mindset. After their mother encouraged them to make money on their own so they could afford toys and other things, they took it to the next level. They didn’t settle for a standard lemonade stand, but reached for higher standards and now find themselves on a continuing entrepreneurial journey at age 13 and 12.