WEBVTT - Stadium-Sized Ambition

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<v Speaker 1>Wind Down with Janet Kramer and I'm Heeart Radio podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>I want to introduce you to On the Job and

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<v Speaker 2>host Avery Thompson. Avery shares stories of people making changes

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<v Speaker 2>in their professional and personal lives. Whether it's a successful

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<v Speaker 2>athlete transitioning into a new career off the field, a

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<v Speaker 2>fly fishing tour guide trying to introduce a new segment

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<v Speaker 2>of folks to the joys of the outdoors, or a

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<v Speaker 2>stadium beer and hot dog hawker who doubles as a

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<v Speaker 2>CEO of a red hot startup. We'll find out what

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<v Speaker 2>drives them and what lies ahead. These are heartfelt stories

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<v Speaker 2>of people finding their lives. Work on the Job is

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<v Speaker 2>brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. This week, Avery

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<v Speaker 2>talks to a hot dog hawker who helped pave the

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<v Speaker 2>way to launching a startup.

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<v Speaker 3>Welcome to on the Job. We're going up to the

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<v Speaker 3>Windy City to speak with Jonah Fialka, who somehow manages

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<v Speaker 3>to be both the CEO of a startup and a

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<v Speaker 3>successful and increasingly famous hawker of food and drinks at

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<v Speaker 3>Wrigley Field each game day, a few hours before the

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<v Speaker 3>Chicago Cubs trot onto the baseball diamond, Jonah Fialgo starts

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<v Speaker 3>getting ready for work because it's on his way there

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<v Speaker 3>exposed to the elements that Jonah decides what he's going

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<v Speaker 3>to sell that day.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, exactly. It's like while I'm walking over, and then

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<v Speaker 4>once I get into the room and see how many

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<v Speaker 4>vendors are there that day, and then when I get

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<v Speaker 4>to the table and see how many other vendors have

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<v Speaker 4>signed up for the same product in that section. But

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<v Speaker 4>it generally will happen on my walkover, and I do

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<v Speaker 4>live in Rigneyville, so it's like a ten minute walkton

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<v Speaker 4>stadium and then it's off into the stadium to get

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<v Speaker 4>selling right after the pick.

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<v Speaker 3>Jonah is a food and beverage vendor at Wrigley Field,

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<v Speaker 3>one of those guys that goes up and down the aisles,

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<v Speaker 3>or as he describes a job.

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<v Speaker 4>I think the official term is hawker seat vendor is

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<v Speaker 4>another way to describe it. But generally, I say, I

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<v Speaker 4>carry beer and hot dogs around the stadium and yell

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<v Speaker 4>very loudly and make a fool out of myself at

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<v Speaker 4>Cups games.

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<v Speaker 3>And since I know you're curious to hear what that

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<v Speaker 3>sounds like, let's just get it out of the way. Actually,

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<v Speaker 3>hang on, let me find some free baseball sounds to

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<v Speaker 3>set the stage. Okay, here we go.

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<v Speaker 4>But for hot dogs, it's something along the lines of

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<v Speaker 4>eat dogs, Eat dogs. For beer, it'll be something like, Hey,

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<v Speaker 4>beer man, buy but light who's ready beer? Hey, I

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<v Speaker 4>skolled beer man.

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<v Speaker 3>If you can't already hear the passion and dedication Jonah

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<v Speaker 3>has for hawking in his voice. You could also take

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<v Speaker 3>a look at his social media presence because he's become

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<v Speaker 3>quite popular on numerous platforms for giving people an inside

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<v Speaker 3>look into the world of professional hot dog banding.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I've been making videos about my job at Wrigley

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<v Speaker 4>for just over a year now. I came into last

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<v Speaker 4>season with the idea of highlighting some of my fellow

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<v Speaker 4>vendors and kind of providing a day in the life

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<v Speaker 4>of what a vendor does and a job that I'm

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<v Speaker 4>so passionate about. It's been really fun to share that

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<v Speaker 4>on social media, and people have been really receptive of it.

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<v Speaker 4>It's a unique job and everyone knows what a vendor is,

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<v Speaker 4>but it's been fun to provide a behind the scenes

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<v Speaker 4>look and there's just so much history behind it and

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<v Speaker 4>creating content around my job and around the Cubs and

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<v Speaker 4>Wriggleyfield has been that it made last season the most

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<v Speaker 4>fun year vending, and I'm looking forward to what twenty

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<v Speaker 4>twenty four has in store from a content perspective as well.

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<v Speaker 3>Belong with being a veteran hot dog vendor at Wrigley

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<v Speaker 3>Field for the past decade, Jonah Fialco has for the

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<v Speaker 3>last two years added ceo to his list of job titles.

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<v Speaker 4>I'm a big pajama worker unless I have important meetings.

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<v Speaker 3>And what's the business that the sweatpant's wearing CEO is running.

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<v Speaker 3>It's called bracketology and it's I'll just let Jonah explain it.

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<v Speaker 4>We provide fantasy foot all style games and your college

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<v Speaker 4>basketball bracket style games, but for reality television shows. So

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<v Speaker 4>we do four different game types that we offer across

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<v Speaker 4>ten different reality television shows.

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<v Speaker 3>Now, Jonah credits his vending career with helping him develop

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<v Speaker 3>into the businessman he's become.

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<v Speaker 4>For sure, it has. I think there are so many

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<v Speaker 4>transferable skills that I've learned vending at Wrigley over the

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<v Speaker 4>past decade that have translated to running my own company.

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<v Speaker 4>I have no fear of rejection, no fear of making

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<v Speaker 4>a fool out of myself than asking people for things.

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<v Speaker 4>There have been so many things that have been helpful

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<v Speaker 4>from a professional standpoint that I've gotten from my job

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<v Speaker 4>at Wrigley that I use on a day to day

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<v Speaker 4>basis as a CEO.

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<v Speaker 3>Bracketology CEO says he has no intention of quitting his

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<v Speaker 3>hot dog vending gig anytime soon.

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<v Speaker 4>Like I said, I really think that as long long

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<v Speaker 4>as I'm living in Chicago and physically able, I will

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<v Speaker 4>do this as long as I can.

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<v Speaker 3>From the job I'm Avery Thompson.

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