Today we’d like to introduce you to Phil Pendergrass.
Hi Phil, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
So a little back story, we have 9 children, 3 biological and 6 that we have adopted from the foster care system. All of our adopted children had come to us with disabilities due to their upbringing or abuse. I’ve always desired to have our own business and especially a business where all our kids could participate even the ones with disabilities. Fast forward to the Covid years, I was a police officer for the City of North Charleston. In 2021, I was working as a School Resource Officer when a shaved ice truck came to my school to serve the kids. That got me thinking so I started to do some research on different shaved ice truck franchises out there. I found Tikiz Shaved Ice and Ice Cream that is headquartered out of Boca Raton Florida and began to inquire about the details. At the same time, the City of North Charleston police department put in a mandatory vaccine mandate for all it’s officers. I was vehemently opposed to being forced to take the covid-19 shot and so I rode it out as long as I could until they fired me on December 10th, 2021 for not complying. Fast forward one month to January and we were in Boca Raton, Florida signing the paperwork for Tikiz. So it was one of those situations where I was forced to make a decision and it was like, “Ok, here we go.” So we have been in operation since January of 2022 and we have grown rapidly over the last 3 years. We now have 2 trucks that are in operation with the possibility of truck number 3 rapidly approaching.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
To be honest I can say that we were very fortunate because I already had some contacts with schools being a School Resource Officer. So I was able to get into schools pretty easily and since then it has only gotten better. People really love the fact that we not only have shaved ice but we have ice cream, hot Hawaiian coffee, Iced Coffee and Berry Chiller drinks as well. We are known as the only Shaved Ice Truck with the variety that we have on one vehicle.
As you know, we’re big fans of Tikiz Shaved Ice and Ice Cream. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are the only shaved ice food truck in the Low Country that has the options that we do. Not only do we have the best tasting Hawaiian Shaved Ice made with pure sugar and no chemicals, but we also have an assortment of ice cream bars, sandwiches, and cones. We also have “New” Berry Chillers which are berry flavored iced drinks. And if it’s cold out, we have an assortment of Hawaiian coffees, Hot Chocolate, Apple Cider and Tea. Our business specializes in helping schools to raise money during the school year. We serve DD2, Charleston County and Berkeley County schools. I think though what truly sets us apart is our business philosphy. We believe that God gave us this business to be a blessing to people. We have been apart of a number of outreaches into the community and so we are always looking to give back.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I like to listen to three different podcasts because they have some really interesting guests on their show and that’s Charlie Kirk, Tucker Carlson, and Joe Rogan.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Tikiz.com/tikizoflowcountry
- Instagram: Tikizofthelowcountry
- Facebook: Tikiz of the Low Country
