05/09/2025
Hi all! Shimmy Mama, here! This will likely be my last post on the Shimmy Shack Instagram and pages.
It’s my love letter to all of you.
When I started Shimmy Shack in 2012, 99.9% of people thought I was crazy. Who would ever want to eat vegan gluten free food? And from a “roach coach” no less (that’s what we called them in the 80s). But I figured if I wanted to eat vegan gluten free food, there had to be others wanting to eat it too.
So, we became one of the first 5 food trucks in metro Detroit. I still remember those days of having taste-testing parties at my house and handing out surveys for feedback.
Being a small business owner wasn’t easy. In fact, it was really really hard but I had reasons to get up every day. Those reasons were you and the animals. I realize there are many reasons for eating vegan gluten free: allergies, religion, health, weight loss, animals, values, it tastes better, curiosity, etc. We all have our reasons. For me it’s always been about the animals and you. My absolute favorite part of running the business for 13 years was interacting with you….whether it was at the truck, in the Shimmy Shack restaurant (remember that!?!?!) or making a special delivery for Thanksgiving, I thrived on meeting you and interacting with you. Thank you for your support and laughs throughout the years.
During Covid, I had to use all my strength to keep the restaurant afloat every single day. I would wake up and say to myself, ‘ok how are we going to get through today’. And asking myself that for 365 days I realized we made it through the worst and had our best year ever. This was all due to the Shimmy team – they were creative, resilient and always fun and supportive. We were in it together.
Which brings me to expressing a huge thanks to ALL the people who have been on the Shimmy team – from 2012 to 2025. Thank you thank you thank you. I fully realize It is only because of you that we succeeded and I thank you for always having my back.
And finally, to the animals. I love you so much that words cannot express it. You trust us to care for you and then we violate that trust in so many ways. I hope one day our society’s values change and we have an ‘ah-ha’ moment that we simply cannot treat animals like we do. It is our responsibility to take care of those who need us.
And so, I sign off as Shimmy Mama and I hope you all stay in touch in one way or another. My email [email protected] will be active until Dec 31, 2025 to ensure all food truck inquiries are forwarded to the new owner. I have a side hustle that I run out of my garage called Madam D’s Vintage so you can also stay in touch that way as well: on Instagram and FB. I’ll be graduating with my doctorate in organizational leadership in 8 months and for now I will remain on the faculty of the University of Michigan college of engineering where I have been for 13 years. I have started a super fun engineering summer camp for teens this year so contact me for any information on that as well. My consulting business is still active too.
Please welcome the new owner with open arms and be patient as he learns the ropes and most importantly, KEEP SHIMMYING!!! I will miss you, in fact I already do.
Xoxox
SM
P.s. share some shimmy pics here!!
