Roscoe Smith of East Mesa on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Roscoe Smith and have shared our conversation below.

Roscoe, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I am a proud member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Incorporated and we do many great things in different communities throughout the Phoenix area and throughout the country. We have many chapters throughout the country and doing community work and giving back brings me much joy. I love meeting people and hearing their stories and community involvement is a great way to do just that. We are fundraising for St. Jude in October and soon we will be hosting a health and wellness check/ blood drive for the community.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Roscoe Smith and I am the founder and president of Knuckle Sandwiches and we are a craft sandwich shop in East Mesa, Arizona. We are a scratch kitchen sandwich shop. That means we make all of our meats and sauces in house. We also get our bread baked by a local bakery and delivered to us daily! We are committed to bring people the best food we can without seed oils, preservatives, copious amounts of salt, etc. We use spices and culinary skills to bring out the flavor in foods. We also do Catering as well and are launching a new brand for Catering events called Lena and Lolo’s Catering. We can do so much more than just sandwiches and Lena and Lolo’s is a great way to showcase our skills.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
This is a very insightful question. I believe that inability to listen to people is what breaks bonds between people. When I say listen I mean really listen, not just hear. The thing that I think creates the division in today’s world is the lack of compassion, the need to always be right and our microwave mentality- meaning it has to happen right now! If we would dial things back to a time where we cared about people a little more, slowed down to listen and really used the compassion in our hearts…listen to people not through our experiences, but through theirs, I think we could see things a little better.

Understanding restores bonds. When people feel like someone understands where they are coming from, it makes a difference, it makes both parties a little easier to communicate with and to. Communication mends fences.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Humility and gratefulness. My struggles in business and outside of business have taught me how real God is. I knew he existed, but when I saw Him work with just a little faith I was so humbled. Immediately all of the air that we have in our youth escaped and honestly it was a very liberating feeling because I felt so much pressure just fall off to know that there was a much higher power and he was there for me…

Also, when you suffer through things sometimes the lesson is expensive and they are lessons that you don’t forget.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
I would have to say this is “When someone shows you who they are- BELIEVE THEM!” This means that many times we try to make someone into who we have them as in our mind. Most times that is never the case. Either let people be who they are and accept them for that or wait until they show you who they are and go with that. However, never create an image of someone and expect them to live up to it without even knowing what that image looks like. Its not fair to them AND you will be severely disappointed.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. When do you feel most at peace?
When I am cooking…that is my love language. However, I have found peace more in the last few years than I have had in the past. I have learned to live simply, love deeply, be happy with yourself and learn to love life in all of its ups and downs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.knucklesandwichesaz.com
• Instagram: knuckle_sandwiches.az
• Facebook: Knuckle Sandwiches-Mesa
• Yelp: Knuckle Sandwiches Mesa, az.