In this episode of Main Street Business Insights, Matt sits down with Derrick Braziel, owner of Pata Roja Taqueria and co-founder of MORTAR, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In their conversation, they discuss Derrick’s origins as an entrepreneur, which began in 2014 with the launch of MORTAR, an organization that enables historically marginalized entrepreneurs to access the resources needed to start and run successful businesses.

"We wanted to make sure that because of your skin color, your socioeconomic stats, the money you had in your bank account, whatever it was, you could participate in the revitalization we were seeing in Cincinatti,” said Braziel.

Out of his participation in a MORTAR program, Derrick was able to test out his own business idea: a taco truck. A decade later, Derrick’s food truck, Pata Roja Taqueria, is thriving – and he’s actively working towards setting up a brick-and-mortar restaurant expected to open this year.

Matt and Derrick also discuss the rarely discussed but prevalent issues of burnout and isolation facing many business owners, and how Derrick has learned to cope, adapt, and learn from his own experiences with them.

Listen to their conversation here.

Listen Now to Main Street Business Insights

Main Street Business Insights is available wherever you find your podcasts, including Spotify and Apple linked below.

Don't forget to listen, subscribe, rate, review, and follow wherever you get your podcasts! To sign up for email notifications with the release of new episodes, please subscribe to our mailing list here.

Stay tuned for next week’s episode, Embracing Digital and Demystifying AI with Janet Hurn, Future Ready Consulting.