We interviewed Hope Peshlakai about her long awaited restaurant in Mesa, AZ.
When asked Hope Peshlakai from Hope’s Frybread what role RAIL CDC played in their journey, Hope states, “We just had this conversation a little bit this morning, and I want to be bold enough and say we probably wouldn’t be here without RAIL. Without their help, without their influence. I mean they helped us financially several times. They also have been very good advisors to have and people to lean on. There were times where we’d be like ‘we have no idea what the heck we’re trying to do’ and they’d be there to help. Whether it’s confirming that we’re on the right track or whether it was like “well this is probably where you should be” it’s been a really good relationship that we’ve had with RAIL, and we are very grateful for their help.”
Hope continues, “and I kid you not, there was one location that we had prior to the one we’re sitting at right now, and we got stuck in a situation where ‘ooh we should’ve thought of this more clearly. Being new, naïve business owners, there was a situation where we thought ‘well that must be how things go, that’s just business’ so we just kind of went with it. Well, it was taking us in a direction where we probably would’ve been in real big trouble financially had we continued to go down that road.”
“Thankfully Augie and Ryan came to us and they said, ‘It should be easier for you.’ ‘It shouldn't be this hard for you to get what you want to get done.’ And so that’s when we put the brakes on that location, and we said ‘oh wow’ you know? We had this feeling that this was not correct, and they just helped confirm that for us and helped us realize, yeah, you’re feeling these feelings for a reason. They helped us pull back from that situation. Then we found this other space and they were able to help finance it so it’s been really great. They’re amazing.”
Ten years ago, Hope Peshlakai and her husband Aaron set up some folding tables, a pop up tent, a turkey burner, and prepared fry bread that would, to their surprise, eventually become acclaimed across all of Arizona.
“It was almost like a hobby or like a side gig.”
Hope says, regarding the early days of how the business began. She sits across from me at a small table just outside her shop. Sitting next to Hope is her husband, Aaron.
“Tell her how it started.” He chimes.
“The way that it started was, we did a fundraiser for a family friend of ours that needed help with something financially.” Hope starts.
“Growing up on the reservation, that’s kind of the way that you would throw a last-minute fundraiser together. It’d be to sell Navajo tacos and frybread. So we did that and sold it to our neighbors and they all bought it, and after that they got excited and just continued to ask, ‘oh when are you going to sell again? When are you doing this again?’ So that's how it all began.”
“It was just that demand after getting more popular.” I add, impressed by how fast Hope was getting requests for more fry bread. She goes on to further explain the growth of her business.
“We had another friend of ours that owned property off Power Road and Mesa and they were like ‘you guys are more than welcome to come and set up shop here off the side of the road and we will let you sell here’ and that became kind of a weekend thing. Off and on for a few months, winter months only. My husband was in college at the time and so we were a broke college family.” Hope laughs through the sentence.
“So sometimes it was to pay the car payment that month, or sometimes we just wanted to go to the movies, or if we knew Christmas was coming up. Stuff like that.” She continues, telling the story of one of their last times selling Navajo tacos and fry bread as a side gig.
“One of our last major catering events was a Halloween party, and at that party a lot of the people there were super excited about our food, they loved it. There were a few of them who had offered to either invest in a food truck or you know something to get us started and that’s when we kind of realized, ‘oh wow this is something that’s probably going to work. Let’s see what it’d be like to have a brick and mortar’ and so that’s kind of how it went.” Before I know it, we get to where Hope and Aaron currently are in their business. “Then in November of last year we signed the lease for this space and we’re finally operating and it’s been great.”
The space Hope is referring to is their new shop located in Suite E, on 144 South Mesa Drive. The grand opening for Hope’s Fry Bread was on October 8th, and it was quite emotional to say the least. Going from a stay-at-home mom to a full-fledged business owner is a journey that’s certain to have its highlights.
Aaron recalls seeing the progress of it all. “We spent a lot of time here during the build out so just kind of seeing that progress. Once we started seeing the walls go up and really when the kitchen started looking like a kitchen.” More notable moments for Aaron and Hope include meeting and hiring people, specifically members of the community that are Navajo or of Indigenous tribes, all from various places of work.
“Each one of them already said ‘I would rather help my own people’ meaning their own tribe members, just to try and push this new business, so it’s been really cool to see that.” Hope continues. “And we just had our Navajo Nation president in our shop this past weekend. To meet people that would initially never be in my orbit is exciting for me. Because I was a stay-at-home mom for fifteen years, and now I get to have these experiences.” When asked about future for Hope’s Fry bread, Hope states that they really want to branch out to other locations in the valley.
“We had numerous folks from Litchfield Park, from Glendale, and San Tan Valley, that will literally take the long trip to come and visit us. And each one will say ‘when are you coming to my side of town?’ and we don’t know when that’s going to be, but we definitely want to branch out to different locations of the valley.”
With the way things are going for Hope and Aaron, I see them not only opening new locations in the valley, but hopefully across the states as well. We think everyone should get the chance at experiencing Hope’s Fry Bread. Not only will you be satisfied with the food, but you’ll also get exposed to art from local indigenous artists and vendors. Take our word and visit Hope’s Fry Bread next time you’re in Mesa.
