 Welcome to this episode of Fort Worth Forward. Today's guests include Anna Martinez-Schroppshire with IDEA Public Schools, Neighborhood Police Officers Joseph Spraggins and Matt McClellan, and Restaurant Entrepreneur Sarah Castillo. Let's get started. Now I'm joined by Anna Martinez-Schroppshire. She is the Tarrant County Executive Director of IDEA Public Schools. Welcome, Anna. How are you today? I'm doing well. Hi, Michael. Good to be here with you. Well, this is called Fort Worth Forward, but you're not originally from Fort Worth. So tell us a little bit about what you're background and how you got here, and maybe overall, your idea, philosophy about teaching and education in general. Yeah, you're right. I'm not from Fort Worth, though when I moved here in 2017, I always heard that I should say that I got here as fast as I could. Yeah, yeah. And so while I'm not from here, this is home and I intend to make Fort Worth home for a very long time. I made my way to Fort Worth by way of Chicago, so I spent the last 10 years prior to coming to Fort Worth for a long time, and I've been here for a long time. I've been here for a long time, and I've been here for the last 10 years prior to coming here. In Chicago, first, I started my own public charter school named Roe Elementary School, and then I worked for new leaders, really supporting Chicago public schools with their principal pipeline. I grew up in LA, though. That's where I went to elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. It was a grad from UCLA. But I was born outside of the country, so I originally come from El Salvador, and I came to this country when I was four. Great. Where did you first move to when you... Los Angeles. Los Angeles, great. Yes. So you're with Idea Public Schools. It's a new charter school that's here in Tarrant County. Tell me a little bit about Idea and what makes it unique. Yeah. Idea Public Schools has existed in the state of Texas for over 20 years. We got started in the Rio Grande Valley. Originally, Michael has an after-school program for fourth grade students. We've had about 150 students originally. Since then, we have grown in some of the largest cities in Texas, including San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Houston, Tarrant County, of course, and most recently, Midland, Odessa area. What really makes us unique is that for 14 consecutive years, we have delivered on the promise that if your child attends our school graduation, they will not only be accepted to the college or university of their choice, but they will also matriculate. So for 14 years, we've delivered on the promise of 100 percent high school graduation, college acceptance, and college matriculation. So that's an interesting topic that you bring up, about 100 percent college acceptance. You know, there's sort of a back and forth happening in our country now that college might not be accepted. Yeah. There is a back and forth today around college not being for everyone. And what is accurate today is that in order for an individual to make a livable wage, you don't necessarily have to have a college degree, right? We know that there are jobs that folks can have, correct, where they can make a livable wage. And we know that in order to do that, you can't possibly do that by simply making a livable wage. We want our students to make more than a livable wage and really to get to a place where their children and their children's children are also thriving. Moreover, Michael, I think what's important to note right now back in 2019, pre-pandemic, right, the unemployment rate for individuals who had a high school degree but did not have a college degree was hovering around just a little under four percent. And since the pandemic, just one year later in April of 2020, that unemployment rate ballooned almost four times for individuals who had a high school degree but not a college degree. So, pre-pandemic, who's getting hired more quickly are people with college degrees or some sort of technical skill and those that have no high school or a little college are still sitting on the sidelines and can't find jobs. We are. We're seeing that as well. At the end of the day, what we're seeing is that we want to see impact generation over generation over generation. So, it's not enough to just go to college and have a livable wage for one generation. We want it to exist beyond their generation as well. And you get a lot of first-generation college students, right? We do. Nearly three-quarters of our kids who graduated last year and were accepted to some of the top universities in the country as well. I remember it was a chance meeting. You were walking out of Maddie Parker's office at City Hall before she was mayor. So, when she was chief of staff and Maddie said let me introduce you to this woman. She's going to do great things here in Tarrant County. So, we started talking and I think you were having some issues with the campus open and operating there. So, what are you looking for when you're looking for campus locations? Yeah, I think there's a couple of things I want to highlight here. I remember that day very vividly and I think it's what makes Fort Worth very special, right? I wasn't from here, but I was able to really connect with folks very early on and so, I think that was perfect timing, if you will. There are technical things that we look at when we're looking for land as we're thinking about where we want to build the school, right? Those technical pieces are really to the tune of size or sites or usually anywhere between 10 to 15 acres. As you can imagine, we have a price point for how high quality public school seats. There are some essential pieces and that's where I would say that the conversation with you that day and with Councilman Bird at that time that day as well was really essential because what you both had that I did not have was a more macro-level understanding of your district specifically of Las Vegas Trail and you already had a vision for how you all were thinking about how you might want to revitalize the community with the community and so education plays a small but very important component in that vision and so the timing around what we were looking to do for idea of public schools in Fort Worth and what you all were looking to do in Las Vegas Trail was essential and that Michael I would say was one of the connections and the LVT Rise work that I was personally able to meet not only folks who lived in the community but also people who worked I actually met the principal from the school down the street got to learn from her about the community got to be in her space and so those connections because our timing was perfect on that and frankly work that we're very proud of right so the school is now in operation for year three currently our idea rise campus which by the way was also named to honor the work that you all were doing with LVT Rise idea rise currently serves grades K through four at the elementary level and we have a couple of years it will be a K-12 campus we are incredibly proud of the accomplishments of idea rise right now if you look at our state scores from last year even in a pandemic year our middle school in particular did incredibly well and is the highest performing middle school in the district right now what is the source of those results how did you do that I think there are some things that idea does that are just good practices and I think they're important to name number one culture for us really matters right we get very clear on what we expect in terms of what we expect from students from staff members from teachers from parents we do a lot of work early on before we to ensure that we are all aligned to the same values and are operating and our behaviors are essentially operationalizing those values day in and day out academically there are some things that we do that are really also essential in any school system we're very clear about what our goals are we're very clear about ensuring that we're putting rigorous content in front of culture and academic rigor is high levels of accountability sure and what I mean by that is there is no denying that everyone who occupies a seat at IDA public schools is very clear on the goals they themselves are trying to accomplish the goals their team is accomplishing and how they all funnel up to the ultimate goal of 100% college going rate yeah I'd love to teach on multiple campuses that y'all have and you know for an example easiest example I can use is in the math class that I watched the teachers taught their class that day at the end of the class there's a question or a problem that the kids have to solve and if 100% of the kids don't get that the next class etc to understand how they're going to connect with that student so it's just an interesting example of that sort of accountability because I think it's with the teachers and the students both on both sides yeah and I think you bring up a really critical point around the accountability of adults right at the end of the day we have this belief in our organization that we can't wait until the next period or until the next day or until the next week to make something change and so it's not uncommon to be in a classroom and to experience what we call real-time coaching so that teachers and leaders can change their play in the middle of the game to then impact to the end outcome we often finally get an assessment and see whether or not kids got it we should know in real-time whether or not kids are on track to getting it yeah so like a six-week report is already too late to come back correct and correct what's going on well I've often said and I think I stole it from y'all that you know kids future should not be decided by their zip code so anybody can apply right correct yeah so we are a lottery system which means that our families apply to enter our school and then are accepted through a blind lottery our application opens up really early actually so our applications are already open for the 22-23 school correct for the 22-23 school year and then our lottery is usually held in February and then our application is the first in the school this is a second piece that I just want to name for personal reasons and professional reasons a child's future are not to be dictated by the zip code or by the household income they were born into that's very college and graduate from college. And that has really drastically changed my own life, and then certainly the life of my two daughters now as a result. And so I've dedicated my entire career to ensuring that basically that a child's zip code is not the number one predictor for their success. And that idea, we fundamentally believe that. And everything we do and say is to ensure that all of our kids have not only access to high quality instruction in our building and our classrooms, but also that they have opportunities to experience the world outside, outside of their school, outside of their communities, so that they can grasp how large the world is and what their role in their community is as they think about their future trajectory. Yeah, if you're not exposed to those opportunities or things outside what you know, you don't know they exist. So you don't know what to dream or strive for. And so that's a really, really good point. And there seems to be some debate too about charter schools and public schools. What do you say to those people that say charter schools take away from in some way, shape, or form what public schools are trying to do? Yeah, I think there's a couple of things that are important for folks to really understand and gain clarity on. At a high level, I think it's always important to start with just understanding how funding in the state of Texas works for public schools. So first and foremost, charter schools are public schools. In the state of Texas, public schools are funded by way of two sources, state sources and then also local sources. Charter schools do receive per pupil funding through the state of Texas. However, we do not receive any local funding. And so if a family chooses to go to a charter school, a public charter school instead, there are local taxes if you will stay in the local public school as well. And so I think it's important to understand a little bit about how that funding works. The other piece that I think is really critical to understand is that public charter schools in the state of Texas are also held to the same accountability standards as are all public school districts in the state of Texas. So we are held to the same standards with regard to state testing, with regard to attendance, certainly as you can see now, all the COVID policies that are being essentially rolled out through the state, those are also things that public charter schools like ours are also held accountable to. Good thoughts there. In closing, what's the future of education in Fort Worth and Tarrant County? What does that look like to you? Yeah, I think the future is really bright, Michael, and I'll tell you why. In my experience, having worked in both traditional public school districts and also charter public schools in big cities like LA and Chicago and Miami, what I think is so unique about what's happening in Fort Worth is that you have visionaries who are leaders in multiple spaces in the city, be it civic leaders, philanthropic leaders, business leaders, community leaders, who all love Fort Worth and wanna see Fort Worth thrive economically, right? I heard you say that Fort Worth is the 12th largest city. Oh, there's some debate right now. Or 13th, right? It's 13th or 12th. 12 or 13th. We're like 12 and a half. 12 and a half. Let's say 12 and a half today, right? That there is this big vision for the city, for us to thrive economically, for this to be a great place to work, to play, to live. And we know that in order for us to get there as a city, there are certain things that need to be put in place for us to thrive, and education is simply one of those foundational pieces. And so what I see here is an appetite for diversifying the educational ecosystem so that all families, all children have a choice. And again, to our earlier point, it's not rooted in the zip code that they live in. That's right, right. Well, thank you for coming today to share your thoughts. I'm happy we're able to make some time to see us and sort of share the vision of what idea is doing, but also just the state of education here in Tarrant County. I agree with you. We have some great folks that want to see or succeed. And so thank you for being a part of that ecosystem and helping our kids do that. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Great, thank you. We'll be right back. Now it's my pleasure to welcome Fort Worth police officers, Joe Spragans and Matt McClellan who are part of our neighborhood patrol officer, NPO program. Welcome guys. Thanks, thanks for having us. Thanks for having us in here. You're welcome, thanks. Now I've long been a fan of y'all and what the NPO program does, but tell us a little bit about yourselves, how you got into the police department, what made you want to become a police officer and eventually become an NPO. You remember that for a bit? I do remember that for a bit. I've been a Fort Worth police officer. I started November 92 in the academy. I always loved motorcycles, so I was a motor officer for 19 years. I like to talk. Anybody that knows me will tell you I talk a lot and have a lot of words. So this neighborhood patrol officer thing when the opportunity came along, I believe in it. I believe it's the backbone of how we have the support we do in Fort Worth. I tell people it is a customer-based. When you have an issue, you can get ahold of your neighborhood officer and we handle it direct. It's like Cullendale computer people and tell them the same story, having the same issue the next day. You gotta tell it over again. Once we get involved, where you're go to and we can try to take care of that. So I think it's positive for the city and it's positive for the police department and it's been a good fit for me. That's great. How'd you get into the force and everything? Well, my dad's a retired Fort Worth police officer so the idea was always there. But I started a little later when I was 32 years old. I owned a business, working in bike shops and that kind of stuff. Being a business owner and being involved with the community on that level kind of grew that interest for me to be an MPO when I joined the police department and something I always wanted to do. So I joined in 2012 and I think a few years ago I became an MPO, maybe three, three and a half. So then eating it up ever since, it's a great gig. And y'all have a relationship that I wasn't aware of until you just told me about it. That sounds weird. Yeah, it does sound weird. I rode motor for 19 years. His daddy was a motor officer before I got on and Keith, his dad, was a great guy. Just like Joey and I saw a road with Keith a lot because our personalities coincided together and we were both a sign of the West side. So we rode motor for years before his dad retired eight, nine years. I remember hearing stories about that when I was a little guy. Little guy. And I knew all about Joey from his daddy long before I ever knew Joey. He's got stories. He's got stories. Good ones, yeah. Well, all good. All good. Well, it's funny to kind of bring this up because there is a camaraderie with y'all whether you know each other or not, I think with the police department in that sense. And I think that helps us sort of helps you do your job to a little bit, it's a small world in that sense. For sure. But for our viewers that, let's dig a little bit more. I really wanted to talk about the MPO program. And you kind of hinted at some of it in your opening parts, but what is it? How does it serve the neighborhood? And really, for me, from the district office, it's my first line of contact. I'll contact you, you're off, whoever the MPO is for that beat. And here's the problem, here's what's happening. Sometimes you already know about the problem. Then maybe it's been happening for a long time. But tell us about the MPO program. Chief Thomas Wendham, I believe is like 28 years ago, and he was the chief when I started here, realized to get community involvement and the support, you need to let them be involved. And so he started this neighborhood patrol program, and it was very small at the time. I believe now we have 90 beats, and I believe we have 90 neighborhood patrol officers citywide. And like I said at the beginning, it gives us that go to, I tell people, I'm kind of like the general contractor. If you get a hold of me, I'm not calling your plumber electrician, but if it's something that's TP&W, I know how to get a hold of them. If it's something else, I'll have a TCU area, so I work hand in hand with them. We bounce things off each other, but it's us, you give us the issue and the problem. If we can't handle it, we know how to get the right answer for you. That's great. So you have the TCU area down in Tanglewood, West Cliff, that area, right? And you have Walsh and? Yeah, Walsh Ranch, which is its own beat. And another beat over off the west of the loop, White Settlement, Clifford area, all that. Right, and you said that the program started off with how many? I don't know how many exactly started. I know when it first started, there was actually only two neighborhood patrol officer assigned supervisors. And the other guys, it went off of the regular patrol sergeants. To where now, I believe each division has two neighborhood patrol sergeants, and that's like we have 19 in our office. That's right. So how many total MPOs? I think there's 90 if I have my numbers correct. And they're CCPD funded too. It's part of the CCPD budget. So what's a typical day like for you? Returning calls from either overnight or the day of, about random complaints in your neighborhoods. It could range from noise complaints to I got solicitors coming up to my door and they seem suspicious and stuff like that. To more serious stuff about crime trends, stuff like that. So the root of our job is to recognize trends going on in your area and how to squash those, pull them from different resources throughout the department, throughout the city. Yeah, just it can range. I mean, it's a wide range of what we do. I mean, you're on the ground Intel that's pushed up and around the department, right? That helps maybe figure out what's happening in crime trends, as you said. So we can attack problems from different angles. What's a typical day for you? It just depends on how many loud TCU parties or how many parking complaints I have for the day. I don't sit still well, so I'm usually in my vehicle, in my area because I like to answer calls for service and assist patrol officers. First thing I do usually when I come in is read anything that happened overnight or answer my emails or phone calls from complaints or concerns that I've received, and then I go out to businesses and I go to residential. Part of my favorite thing is right around weather like this with the windows down, you're gonna meet a lot of people. That's how I've made so many contacts in the neighborhood is just being out there and being available to somebody who wants to tell you something going on. So every day is a little different, but predominantly, like I said, if I'm having a trend of certain burglaries in certain areas, then I'll get other, like our criminal tracking unit or somebody else, you know, hey guys, can you come out to our area and we're having these issues? But it's kind of different every day, but I enjoy meeting the people. That's good, that's your job. I'll just have kind of a question of what's going on nationally and locally. We've been committed to not defunding our police here and making sure that y'all have the assets that you need to do your job. But I would say that the relationships you've developed, people know who you are in the communities, that's your job. You're doing that community policing that we talk about sorts, but it's from the side of wait, we're here to help and that's really our job. You have any thoughts sort of on that or how, nationally we're, I think morale's low with police officers, but I think when people see what you do and you're really out there with the neighborhood, it changes their opinion. I've got a lot of friends and relatives that work in other agencies all over. Now to people, I wouldn't do it anywhere but here because we do have the support of the community and I think a lot of that goes back to this community policing and letting them be involved and being transparent and let them know what we're doing. But I can't tell you how many times when we're at restaurants, somebody comes up, me there says, hey, I've paid for your meal, wanna shake your hand, thank you for your job. I've stopped people before that'll still say thank you for being out here, we appreciate it. So we know we have the support, so I think the morale with the fourth place department is probably unique that it's probably much better than it is in some of these other departments. Any thoughts there? Agreed, no. And it really falls on the MPOs in their areas to keep that morale up. Right. I mean, we do have a very good thing going with the CCPD and just the support of the citizens and I mean, we're kind of at the front line there to keep that going, you know, because to many of our residents and our beats, we're the face of the department, right? We're the bridge, we're that link. So if we fail on following up with calls and stuff like that, if a certain citizen in your beat, instead of first time calling their MPO and then MPO never calls them back, just leaves them hanging, their view of the department is now tainted. Right. No matter what, I mean, it's gonna take some, a big effort to rebuild that. So. That's right. What advice would you give, you know, just your average citizen interact, how to interact with the MPO? What advice would you give to them? As far as contacting us? Well, yeah, just in general, like your job, your role, like interaction with you, et cetera. I mean, you've kind of talked about it a little bit already, but. Bottom line, it's customer based. We work for you, we work for the citizens. You pay our salaries, you pay for our equipment. So if there's a need that we can help you with, please reach out and let us give us an opportunity to help you. If you see us come up and approach us, we're all human. We just wear all this polyester and funny garb that we do, but we're human underneath all this. So feel free to come up and contact us. Yeah, that's a good point. You're human. So I appreciate what y'all do. And, you know, you're two of my, two parts of my district that I know has always been my first line to call you if this is happening, et cetera, and encouraging people to contact you. So thanks for what y'all do. I appreciate it. I would like to say. Yes. This is a resident out there for your district has a complaint. Reach out to your appeal first. Don't email the council member's office and then have that trickle down to us, because it makes us look really bad. I agree, because I tell people you can do that. You can do that, but all it does, it's coming to us anyway. So give us the chance first. It's true. I think people think that they'll get a little more reaction that they send it to the office, and I guess it does. But you're right. Y'all should be able to be given the chance to do your job first. And then if it doesn't happen, then let us know, and we know that we will help push it in whatever way that it needs to happen. But thanks for what y'all do, and thanks for joining me today. Yeah, thanks for having us on. Thanks for having us on. Appreciate it. Thanks. We'll be right back. Now I'm joined in studio by Sarah Castillo, who is a restaurant entrepreneur here in Fort Worth. Sarah, thanks for joining us. No, my gosh, thank you for having me. So long been a fan of yours. Thank you. We've been friends for a long period of time, too, but Taco Heads, Thenies, am I saying that right? Thenies, yes. Thenies restaurant, which is named after your grandmother. My mom. Your mom. Yes. And Sidesettle Saloon, which is now down in Mule Valley. Great. Well, with this program, we wanted to highlight entrepreneurs that are just out there just every day pushing forward, developing. And you are a definition of an entrepreneur in my mind, because you started out of a taco truck, right? So tell us a little bit about that journey, like starting out of the truck and how things came together. Yeah, I mean, I'm born and raised footwork girl. And I went to school in Austin, traveled around. So I lived in Aspen, New York, and Spain. And then when I came back home, I thought my plan was to move back to Austin. And then I just saw what was happening in Fort Worth around 2009. And I just fell in love with it. And I was like, I need to get my boots in the ground here. So came up with this idea of the food trailer, the taco trailer. And parked on 7th Street next to 7th Haven. And then eventually, by Pug Mahon St. But yeah, and it's just been crazy since then. You've been grinding every day since then. Every day, like late hours. And it was crazy, because I was probably one of the first food trailers or trucks in 7th Street district area, usually either in the South Side or the North Side. So I got a lot of pushback from other restaurants that were around the neighborhood and just didn't want me there. And I was like, I'm a nice person. I'm not trying to, like, there's enough business for everybody. And I wasn't going, it was, I was feeding the bar crowd. And then just, we didn't have that late night food. And we have water burger, or Old South. And then there was nothing else. So I wanted to be that, fulfill that void there. So how did that transpire into, and now I want to open a restaurant? Like, what was happening going at that time? Well, throughout the entire opening of Taco Heads, I knew I didn't want to stay in a trailer forever. So when we're going through our branding, the guy that was doing my branding at the time, always put wheels on it. And I was like, no, no, no. I'm not going to be in a trailer forever. Like, I just knew it. So we made sure there was nothing that said truck or trailer or wheels on the branding or anything. So I knew I wanted to eventually step out and open a restaurant. And the first one was the one on Montgomery, right? Yes, yeah, which is funny, because I originally signed the lease for the space on worthinis, as now. That was originally going to be Taco Heads. And then the timing wasn't right. Because it hadn't done the revitalization of the street yet, South Mania. Yeah, so the street just took a lot longer than it really was supposed to. And I think we were just way too early. We were way too early. And then found this space on Montgomery Street and was like, oh, this is cute. And we had a track down the landlord. And he finally got ahold of me back. And yeah, then he was like, this space is yours, if you want it. And I was like, awesome. How long was it open before Dickies Arena was completed? Oh, gosh. Or had they even turned ground on Dickies at that point? We didn't even know it was happening. So I signed the lease in 2016. And so we opened in September 2016, or sorry, January 2016. And then Dickies, I think, announced around 2019, 2018. Something like that, I forget. 2018, maybe. Yeah, you lucked out in a lot of different ways. Because I remember coming to see you before the rodeo, and you're like, I'm slammed. And you're slayed for that whole period. The restaurant wasn't set up to hold a 14,000-seat arena across the street. So we recently just closed down and did a remodel. And had our first big concert. Michael Buway was last night. And our buildout worked out. And so we were successful. And everyone had a great time. And that's what we want. Well, so through setting up all these businesses, I'm sure you've learned a lot, just the process. And tell us some of the things you've learned through the process. Well, permitting, architect build out, what VE means, which is value engineering. Right, right. You come up with all these great ideas, and it doesn't fit your budget. So you got to VE that. I know that term very well. Yeah, I mean, mainly construction and buildout and city ordinances and fire suppression system. Things you never thought would enter your life? Yeah, I'm really good with the fire suppression system. There you go. OK, well, talent's all the way around. Tell us what a typical day is like for Sara Castilla. Oh, wake up early. And I'm an early bird, which is really random. Because the trailer, I wouldn't go to bed till 4 AM. Now I get up relatively early. And I just start my round. So usually it's talk-aheads in the morning since we're open early. And then I make my rounds to manager meetings and thenies and then sidesaddle and just kind of the night in my day. But yeah, just constantly, oh, probably with a glass of tequila. That's where I was going to go next. You love tequila. I love tequila. And you spent a lot of time going to Mexico, Agave, all the pieces of it. Did all the tours, yeah. And I think for myself and maybe a lot of people, maybe not understand that tequila has, I mean, flavors. Just like, yeah. So tell us a little bit about what makes it tequila good. How do they flavor it, that sort of thing. Well, I love what tequila is becoming and what has become. And what most people think tequila is or has been in the past. So I don't fault them for it. But I had that same thing. It's like, I had a Jose Cuervo Gold in college. And it wasn't the best memories I've had of tequila. If you could remember after that. Yeah, if you could remember. So then later on, like time goes by, then you really, you kind of forget those memories and then you start trying tequila out again. And realizing like 100% Agave tequila is extremely different from what we experienced back when we were younger, that Jose Cuervo Gold. Sure, or Pepin Lopez or something that's really bad. So now it's becoming more of a hobby. So you have your tequila ocho, your fortaleza, and you start branching out and really tasting the spirit. And it's extremely beautiful. And it's, I love our heritage. And just like Mexican food, I go to Mexico City, Guadalajara, Chávez de Jalisco, and went to tequila. And we've done all the tours. I've seen her or a Patron, Jose Cuervo's grandson, who did a Maestro de Bel, which is like his craft tequila. So really like exploring tequila in the way it's made and really have that appreciation for it. I remember I was in your restaurant at some point and you just got back from Mexico. And I think you've batched your own tequila, didn't you? At one point, yeah, let me try it. So we've had a couple barrels that we've partnered with. So we partnered with Herdura and Patron in Maestro de Bel. And it's been such a great experience. And they are, I mean, they just bring you in. They show you how to dig the pina up and cook it in versus stove oven versus autoclave, just the way you press the juices out. Like all of it, every single technique, it makes that tequila special. So do you know how many varieties of tequila you have at any places? Oh my gosh. Actually, before Texas reached out the other day, we were asking how many mescals we had. So we have over 30 of mescals, probably about 20, so tequilas. And Glenn, my business partner, I like tasting with him because he has a really great nose and palate. But it's a lot of fun to really dig in to see where it comes from, which family farm it comes from and whatnot. Well, I'm really disappointed you didn't bring some tequila to my list of things today. So we could take a shot here on the show. I was going to do that. But I'm a firm believer that we all, we didn't get here alone wherever we are. Someone helped us along the way. Do you have a mentor, someone that helped you and sort of opened those doors for you? Oh, I mean, I have several. I mean, just the first one was Jimmy from Seventh Haven. So he let me park in his property last minute, built me a patio, and he got me a beer one night after a really great successful night. And he was like, hey, do you want to make this permanent? And I was like, yeah. And he was like, OK, let's do this. And so he was always, he used to call me the sister he wished he never had because I would always call him like, Jimmy, this is broken. Can you help me fix it? And I wouldn't just let him fix it. I would ask him like, OK, what are you doing? So I mean, I can wire a 220 plug now. I don't want to, but I can do it. But little things like that. And then, I mean, Glenn from Pugma Hones, he's a business partner now, but always was a big brother and mentor looking up to. Gloria Starling from Capital Grill. Gosh, I mean like, John Bonnell, everyone has, that's what's great about Fort Worth. Like, everyone has, wants to be helpful and wants everyone to succeed. We're not competitive in the food industry. Like, we want everyone to be successful because the last thing we want is a failed restaurant in our city. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't help us. So we want everyone to be successful. So everyone is, I mean, they've seen me grind in a food trailer, driving the trailer with a water tank hanging over. And they would honk and say, Sierra, you're water tank. I'm like, hi. But yeah, so everyone's been wonderful and great. I mean, just little things. The pastor, the minister from Christchapel, I catered a party one time. And I couldn't back in my trailer. This was early trailer days. So now I can back in a trailer anywhere. But he got out and I was like, oh my gosh, like you're Christchapel pastor. And he like, backed in the trailer. So just little things like that. I'm glad you brought that up because that was one of my questions. Like, why is Fort Worth, could you, could you've done this somewhere else? Or was Fort Worth part of that whole mix of that people want to see you succeed? Yeah. No, I mean, not to bring up bad memories, but I tried, we tried to do it in Dallas and it didn't work out. We closed right at COVID. And it was just a bad location construction. And we got broken in two, eight times. So it, no, no harm or no, like, bad power, no feelings towards Dallas. But it just wasn't for me. So I know where I belong. And it's Fort Worth. That's my, that's in my community. That's great. Well, thanks for being here today. How can people find you? Website, what do you? Yeah, Instagram, Facebook, but tacoheads.com, Themesfw.com, and sites at Osaloon.com. OK, great. I appreciate you being here. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Y'all try out her restaurants. They're beautiful. They're amazing food. And just great atmosphere all the way around. So check them out. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Fort Worth Forward. If you have guest ideas for us, send them our way to the district three at FortWorthTexas.gov email address. I hope you've learned a little bit more about what makes Fort Worth great and how we can keep moving Fort Worth forward. Thank you.