Richard Hull found the right ingredients for a successful career after working with the Iowa Self-Employment program at Vocational Rehabilitation Services.
In 2020, during the height of Covid, Hull launched his own food trailer, IBK On Wheels, serving smoked chicken, ribs, bratwurst, mac & cheese, baked beans and more.
βIβve been cooking and catering for over 20 years now,β Hull said. βI started in the backyard with my uncle. I learned how to cook from my mother and how to barbecue from my uncle. We always had traditional Sunday meals and cook-outs mandatory every Sunday.β
Those meals on Sundays with his family got Hull through a long, rough childhood in Chicago, where he experienced poverty and crime. βI come from abuse, mental disabilities, living in abandoned buildings and much more,β he said.
His mother moved the family to Sioux City to improve their lives but died from colon cancer shortly afterwards.
βIt broke me and my sister. I was already headed down the wrong path, so it got even worse for me. But I never stopped doing the Sunday and holiday tradition of cooking. I kept that alive.β
Hull struggled with homelessness and served time in prison. He eventually discovered that the recipe to turn his life around was to do what he knew best β cooking.
Hull wanted to own a restaurant and a restaurant revitalization grant in 2019 that VR helped secure, provided, grant funds to purchase a custom-made trailer and equipment. He then started serving up his specialties at events and locations all around Sioux City.
Hullβs business was part of an individualized self-employment plan that was developed in 2019 after he began working with the Vocational Rehabilitation Services division of Iowa Workforce Development. A team that included Sioux City VR Counselor Tara Gunderson and VR Supervisor Brittney Gutzman provided specialized and individualized services including assistance with menu planning/pricing and communication.
VR Rehab Assistant Jamie Anderson and Secretary Amanda Beougher at the Sioux City Office helped order the specialized trailer and equipment to get the food service on the road.
βI made contact with the vendor who was building the trailer to make sure it would be built to the specs we needed,β Anderson said. βI made sure the purchase was going to be tax exempt and coordinated where the item was to be delivered.β
βOnce he had a few soft openings, it was determined that some additional items were needed, so I assisted in researching the most cost-effective items and helped with completing the application for funds to help purchase the necessary items,β Gunderson said. βIt has been a journey, and he continues to learn and work through the process.β
VR ISE Business Specialist Yvette Clausen worked with Gunderson to get Hull up to speed on the various permits needed to operate a business enterprise on wheels.
βShout out to Angela Young and Tara Gunderson and Jamie from Iowa Workforce Development center for helping me and believing in me," Hull said. "Shout out to Yvette for believing in me and helping me. Without all of them, I'd be still in the same spot.β
When Hull catered an all-staff meeting at the VR Sioux City Area Office, the response was so impressive that Gutzmann and Iowa Workforce Development Center Director Andi Mann were able to work with the building landlord so that Hull could park for free Thursdays through Sundays. This is a key location for this small business with a nearby customer base of transit headquarters, factories and the fire department. Hull was part of the Juneteenth Celebration in Sioux City this year and is building the contacts and customers he needs to become a vital business in the area.
The family tradition that held Hullβs family together is now a business that allows him to support his own children.
Self-Employment is one of the ways vocational rehabilitation services helps Iowans with disabilities achieve their employment goals. To learn more about the Self-Employment Programs, visit our website.