hi. i bought a mini truck.

hi, my friends! it’s been quite a long time since my last post. it had already been a while at the time i first started writing this (the beginning of march, yikes), and frankly, i overthought this one so hard i managed to complete the full circle and stop thinking about it entirely.

have i mentioned that i struggle to share things before they feel finished? a combination of perfectionism and being timid often keeps me from opening up, and then seemingly all of a sudden i’ll find myself in conversations with people i care about, realizing i’ve evidently been keeping a secret.

oh, did i not mention i started moving my prep and baking to the kitchen at abra?

i haven’t told you about the mini truck?

did i tell you much about the brick and mortar space i was looking at…?

in some part, this is because i aim to treat social media like a billboard: a mechanism for getting you intrigued enough to get off the proverbial internet highway to come share a bite and connect with me in person. as someone who is more chronically online than not, i think about this a lot. there’s a striking difference between the way we connect with others on the likes of instagram and tiktok and the way we connect with each other in person.

honestly, i can’t say i’m stellar at sharing about myself in either format, but what i can say is that i feel strongly about focusing my energy and efforts on connecting with you in person.

with that in mind, could i tell you a bit about this mini truck? i’d like to share more about why i bought it—including some back story on the beginnings of wababaland—as well as what my plans are and when you might be able to see the truck in person this summer, if you’re interested.

and if you’re wondering about any of the other stuff or want to chat more about the truck, i would love it if you came by the norwich farmer’s market this saturday, may 30 from 9am to 1pm! alec, jamie, and i will be there and it’ll be our first of several norwich markets this summer. we’d love to see you and catch up.

whether you read on or not, this is your invitation to ask me any and all questions the next time you see me to help me practice talking about it. ok, you’ve been forewarned that this gets long. buckle in!

part 1: the wababaland experiment

so, why did i buy a mini truck? first, some context.

if you didn’t know, my career so far has been in building software. i got my undergrad degree at business school, fell in love with the dynamic energy of tech startups, and found my way to san francisco to live in the heart of the tech industry. since i was a kid, i have always loved making things and working in tech was an extremely convenient way to satisfy that itch while putting a giant green checkmark on the box next to “success” on my life report card.

there’s a much longer story to tell about that journey and experience, but to make a very long story very short, the overlap between my work and passion for making things became smaller and smaller as time went on and the urge to create was stifled within me. it wasn’t until i took some small but intentional steps away from tech that space began to open up for my creative energy to sprout again.

wababaland was born out of my growing love for and obsession with food. when people ask me if i’ve always been a big baker, i reply, “no, but i’ve always been a big eater!” obviously i’m being a bit cheeky, but it’s also the truth: i love to eat.

what started as learning to cook and bake the things i loved most at restaurants evolved over time into an interest in food that quickly took over my thoughts without an end in sight. i was always finding reasons to make elaborate meals and desserts and from there the tale is as old as time: friends were encouraging me to sell what i was making, i scoffed at the idea repeatedly, and eventually, my interest grew to a point that it felt like it was my responsibility to honor it.

i’m an iterative product manager through and through, so when i considered that i finally might take this seriously, i looked for the smallest way i could test the idea and decided on trying out a space at a farmer’s market. it seemed like a no-brainer way to put myself out there. a table, some cookies, a venmo business account… what more could a girl need? i thought about where to apply and naturally, the norwich market came to mind.

it was late fall, so i sent in an application for the winter market and got word in january that a spot was available for the rest of the season. i was beyond anxious for that first market, but the reception from customers, kindness from other vendors, and joy of sharing this growing part of me with more people was beyond what i ever could have dreamed. the wababaland experiment was a success.

part 2: wtf am i doing

after those winter markets wrapped up, it became clear to me that wababaland had graduated from an experiment to a project with legs to become something real. i applied to continue vending at the farmer’s market over the summer, took on some baking shifts at abracadabra to get some experience with commercial equipment, and went to a million places in my mind about what wababaland could be.

could i open a physical location? get into packaged goods? become a recipe developer? wholesale some of my items to local businesses? become a pastry chef? when i say the ideas were endless… reader, i worked myself into a paralysis. i had opened so many doors that soon all i could see was doors. it became clear by the end of the year that i needed to choose one to walk through.

the idea of something more permanent, a space that embodied and shared the communal and joyful spirit of wababaland, where i could look around and say, “this is wababaland”? absolutely intoxicating. you know when you are in the early stages of a concept and say, “i’m not married to the idea”? this was not one of those times.

it was only when i started to look the major life changes i’d have to make in the eye and spoke with people with more experience in this new-to-me world that my perspective started to gradually shift. it was a massive leap that i’d need real conviction to take: something i realized was not exactly present on my mood boards, brainstorms, and lists of ideas.

it wasn’t that it was (or is) a bad idea, just that it hadn’t ever left the phase of being an idea. hanging out in the liminal space where everything is shiny and possible is a really fun time, but once i invited reality in, it became clear this was likely not my next step.

part 3: what’s next

once i recovered from my idea honeymoon, the idea of a mobile operation started to bounce around. spreading the joy of eating something great is at the heart of wababaland, and what better way to do that than by putting wababaland on wheels?

it was at this point that alec and i discovered during a catch-up with some talented designer friends that they were building a business in the events space. alec and i had been toying with the idea of buying a trailer to transform into a mobile cafe, and our friends hooked us on the idea of a japanese kei truck.

when we pictured serving desserts from one of these ridiculously cute mini trucks and—i can’t emphasize this enough—realized how much more approachable of an investment they were than a brick and mortar space, it felt like a no-brainer.

i’ve been so incredibly lucky to get to work with them and witness them bring this idea to life in renderings and now, reality. the truck is in its final build stages, so i’m gearing up for a summer of pop-up events and farmer’s markets and my goal is to get lots of reps in and spread the word to start booking events in 2027.

on that note, if you have a celebration coming up that you might want a sweet treat for, let me know! i’ll also be tweaking the wababaland website as i learn and go, so you can find more information and examples of my work there, too.

getting to make highly eatable, unexpected desserts for you is an absolute dream come true. it puts a giant green checkmark next to “fulfillment” on my life report card: a box i have been secretly peeking at for many years with fear of what it might take to strive for. thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support and encouragement so far 🩷 what may feel like a small comment or act of support for you is often what reminds me how much more alive i feel striving for something i truly want.

a lot of learning is in store for this next season as i get my feet wet in the event catering world, and i hope you’ll follow along with what i share here and join me on the journey!

i’ll be sharing updates here and on instagram to let you know where you’ll be able to find me and the truck throughout the summer. if you have ideas or suggestions for where you’d like to see the truck this summer, let me know - i’d love to hear from you!

—jenna