Emanuel Reed, Derrick Moore, and Clinton Gray are all friends that grew up together in Nashville, Tennessee. They met in grade school and haven’t separated since. They played sports together, they went to college together (Tennessee State University) and they became serial entrepreneurs together.
The trio started their first business which was a moving service with $3,000 in 2010. Starting with limited resources, they knew they had to be innovative to separate themselves in the marketplace.
In order to accomplish that they rented Uhaul trucks on hourly rates until they had enough money saved to buy their own fleet. They also made uniforms for themselves and their workers to make their appearance more professional. The biggest aspect of their business was that it was an eco-friendly moving company. Their trucks used biofuel and they planted two trees after every move.
The company picked up steam in Nashville and soon became a hit in the community. A few years after launching and at the peak of their success, they decided to sell the company for over a million dollars.
Immediately after the sale of their moving company, they used the proceeds to fund their next business which was a company named Slim and Husky’s.
Slim and Husky’s is a new age pizza chain. It has turned the pizza world on its head and is the talk of the town in the culinary industry. With three locations in Nashville, one in Atlanta, and other Atlanta, Memphis, and Sacramento locations on the way, their reach is growing at a fast pace.
Their first location was in North Nashville in a zip code that has the highest incarceration rate in the United States of America. It also has a sky high unemployment rate. The choice of the location was intentional. They not only wanted to employ the community but they wanted to involve the community.
The store has community movie nights and free food tastings. Slim and Husky’s has served as a boost of energy in the once forgotten part of town.
In episode 61 of Earn Your Leisure, they told their story in detail, they explained the process of selling a company and outlined their business model.
EYL #61 will be out 2/12 at 5 pm est.
Article by @Rashadbilal