MilCom Founders Podcast, Episode 51: Robert E. Strong Jr., Pretty Thai Specialty Sauces & Spices

Join host Rod Loges and guest Robert E. Strong Jr., a former Air Force signals intelligence analyst, founder of Pretty Thai Specialty Sauces & Spices, and co-founder of Wingman Kitchens. Pretty Thai products are sold in 900+ retail locations across eight states. Robert also runs the Palmer Nicklaus Foundation in honor of his son Palmer.

In this episode:

• Robert explains how 9/11 changed everything for him while he was a junior at Ithaca College and led him to enlist in the Air Force, despite having no military background in his family
• His career as a signals intelligence analyst at NSA/CSS Hawaii and later as a civilian all-source intelligence targeting analyst, deploying twice to Fallujah with the Counter-IED Targeting Program
• How a trip to Thailand after his final deployment opened his eyes to Thai food, and how a Food & Wine magazine recipe became his gateway to cooking with Thai flavors back stateside
• Why he dropped out of journalism school at UT Austin after one semester to attend Le Cordon Bleu, and how the Austin food truck scene led to Pretty Thai For A White Guy, later featured on Season 5 of the Cooking Channel’s Eat Street
• The move from food truck to bottling sauces in 2015, sparked by customers constantly asking to buy the sweet chili sauce off the truck
• Co-founding Wingman Kitchens in 2018 as a shared kitchen space and incubator, now with locations in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio
• Why not having a business or marketing background was his biggest challenge, and how he went seven years before discovering veteran entrepreneurship programs like Bunker Labs and IVMF
• Meeting Graham Weston through the Texas Business Hall of Fame after receiving the 2021 Future Texas Business Leader Veteran Award
• A recent shelf audit at Walmart showed Pretty Thai wasn’t catching consumers’ eyes in the first four glances, leading to a potential full rebrand of packaging and logo
• His plan to bring back the food truck as a marketing and fundraising vehicle, with stops at H-E-Bs, Walmarts, and children’s hospitals across Texas
• The Palmer Nicklaus Foundation, created in honor of his son Palmer who passed from congenital heart disease and heterotaxy syndrome in 2017, and the new chef program launching at Christus Children’s Hospital

Key takeaways:

• Integrity and situational awareness carry over from military service, but trained analysts can fall into paralysis by analysis when they don’t have all the data before making a decision
• Veteran entrepreneurs tend to resist asking for help, but Robert’s blunt about it: if someone says they’re 100% self-made, they’re full of it
• Not discovering veteran-focused programs like Bunker Labs and IVMF until seven years in cost Robert time, money, and connections that could have sped up his growth
• A great product is not enough in retail. If consumers don’t see you on the shelf in the first two seconds, you lose the sale, even when your repurchase rate is strong
• Fractional leadership (CMOs, COOs) found through veteran networks can fill critical skill gaps for founders without business or marketing backgrounds
• Putting off purpose-driven work indefinitely can drain the motivation that keeps a founder going. For Robert, the foundation isn’t something that comes after the business succeeds; it’s the reason the business exists

Guest: Robert E. Strong Jr., Founder and CEO of Pretty Thai Specialty Sauces & Spices, Co-Founder of Wingman Kitchens, Founder/Director of the Palmer Nicklaus Foundation, United States Air Force Staff Sergeant

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-strong-1a378839/   
• Website: https://www.prettythaibrand.com

Guest Bio:

Robert E Strong Jr. is a former United States Air Force Staff Sergeant. He holds a BA in History from Ithaca College, as well as a Certificate of Culinary Arts from Le Cordon Bleu Austin. Robert served as a Signals Intelligence Analyst with NSA/CSS Hawaii, and an All-Source Intelligence Targeting Analyst for the Counter-IED Targeting Program. He was twice deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in support of the 1st and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Forces, as well as Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Teams 3 & 5.

Robert entered the food sector in 2012, launching Pretty Thai For A White Guy food truck in Austin, TX, and was featured on Season 5 of Eat Street on the Cooking Channel. He transitioned from food service to a Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) company, Pretty Thai® Specialty Sauces & Spices, in 2015, and now sells his products in 900+ retail locations in eight states, to include H-E-B, Central Market, and Walmart in Texas, and Meijer in the Mid-West.

Robert is a co-founder of Wingman Kitchens, a shared kitchen space/incubator in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. In addition to Pretty Thai® and Wingman Kitchens, Robert is a Founder/Director of the Palmer Nicklaus Foundation, 501 (c) (3). The Palmer Nicklaus Foundation’s mission is to put good into the world in honor of their son Palmer who passed from CHD and Heterotaxy Syndrome in 2017.

Robert is a 2021 Future Texas Business Leader Veteran Award recipient for the Texas Business Hall of Fame (TBHF) and sits on the TBHF Executive Leadership Board as the San Antonio Alumni City Chair. Robert is an avid golfer and wine enthusiast; and when not working (which is rarely), loves spending time with his wife Kristen and their children, Alivia (8), Eloise (4), and Coen (2).

Looking ahead: Robert is preparing for a potential full rebrand of Pretty Thai’s packaging and logo after a shelf audit revealed visibility problems at major retailers. He’s also planning to bring back the food truck, this time as a combined marketing and fundraising vehicle with stops at retailers and children’s hospitals across Texas to support the Palmer Nicklaus Foundation.

The MilCom Founders Podcast champions and celebrates military community business founders. Each episode brings practical insights from veteran entrepreneurs.

Sponsored by One Degree Financial www.onedegreefinancial.com

How ready is your business? Take the Ready Founder Assessment: https://s.pointerpro.com/bgitblpx

For each podcast guest, One Degree Financial donates $100 to the Dick Loges Veteran Entrepreneur Scholarship Fund. Learn more at milcomfounders.com