Life & Work with Caileen And Brad Walker of Gilbert/Phoenix metro area

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caileen And Brad Walker.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Brad and I met when we were 15 and 16 years old, we both worked at the local pizza place! I worked the front counter and he made the pizzas! He started to offer me rides home after my shifts and we got to know each other! Shortly after, we started dating, and the rest is history! We got married, got our “grown up” jobs (he’s a project manager and I’m an online coach) and we had our beautiful daughter. Life was good, but I couldn’t help but have this nagging feeling that we were destined to start something of our own! We mulled over a couple options, but then we saw that our favorite east coast pizza spot, Brother Brunos Pizza, Deli and Bagels, was franchising their pizza food truck. Brad and I have been visiting Brother Brunos (aka the Cheatmeal Headquarters) for YEARS, making a pilgrimage each time we went back east to visit family! The owner, Pietro, knew us by name whenever we’d stop by! We took this as a sign from the universe that this was the direction we should go, and we’ve never looked back! We’ve now been serving delicious savory and dessert pizzas all over the valley!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The journey has definitely not been the smoothest. We signed paperwork for the truck in December of 2023, hoping to be slinging slices by early 2024. Pietro had mentioned his truck only took 2 weeks to build, so we were very excited to start our business up in the nice, cool early months of the year. Our truck ended up taking closer to 3 months to get here, which put us starting everything in around mid-March. The truck was made in New Jersey and because of that, it was outfitted to meet New Jersey standards. When it arrived, we sent our plans to Maricopa county for permitting and we found out it needed a lot of costly changes. Not only did this take additional funds, but it pushed back the time that we could be permitted. We finally got our Maricopa County permit in June, and continued to do events in the summer, where inside the truck would be a balmy 110 degrees. Yes, there is an air conditioning unit inside, but its an uphill battle with a 500 degree oven in the truck as well! But we made it and enjoyed a lovely back end of the year with cooler weather (even using the oven to warm up on some of those winter nights!)

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Being an online coach for lifestyle and bodybuilding athletes, I get a lot of sideways glances when I tell them I also run a pizza truck! But the truth is, pizza is delicious, and can be enjoyed in moderation while getting epic results! Our truck name, “The Cheat Truck AZ” is an homage to the “cheat meal” that dieters can enjoy on occasion! Brad and I both compete in bodybuilding and so we take pride in preparing pizzas that are “worth the cheat”! While we do always have some of the classic slices available (cheese, pepperoni etc), you can also find some amazingly unique slices in both the sweet and savory department! One of my favorite pizzas is the mac and cheese pizza! I love mac and cheese and I love pizza.. you put the two together and its *chef’s kiss*. When it comes to the dessert pizza, I haven’t made one I didn’t like! My absolute favorite pizza is the Cookie Monster Pizza which has vanilla icing, cookie dough, oreos, a nutella drizzle and powdered sugar! Sometimes we’ll even make stuffed pizzas! The buffalo chicken stuffed mac and cheese pizza is insane, and once slice is enough to fill you up! The bacon cheeseburger stuffed mac and cheese pizza is pretty amazing as well! Dessert stuffed pizzas are what dreams are made of! We’ve made nutella stuffed churro pizzas, birthday cake stuffed cookie monster pizzas… the combinations are endless!

How do you think about happiness?
It brings me so much joy to be doing this as a family endeavor. It has been wonderful to give our daughter, who is now 10, a real insight into the highs and lows of owning your own business. It also brings me IMMENSE happiness when I see people enjoying our pizza! Every time someone comes to tell us how wonderful it was my heart explodes! I remember one time we were doing a pop-up at this shop and a man bought a few slices from us and left (he was going to eat them at home). Well, a few minutes later we see a car park right in front of our truck (cue the confused looks) and he gets out and he askes where we pop up normally because this has been the best pizza he’s ever had! WINNING!

Pricing:

• $20/head catering includes 3 slices of pizza per head and 3 hours of service

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thecheattruckaz.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecheattruckaz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecheattruckaz