Doing good and helping others is Ashlee Kleinert’s bread and butter – literally.
Over a decade ago, Kleinert attended a national conference
for event planning where a speaker mentioned food trucks were a new trend on the block. Although Kleinert didn’t have any prior experience with that business, she took the idea and ran with it. Or, drove with it.
Ruthie’s For Good, named in honor of Kleinert’s grandmother, is a food truck all about grilled cheese. Its menu takes the classic sandwich and adds savory iterations such as a vegan option, a breakfast sammy and a Ruthie’s fan favorite, The Boss, a grilled cheese that sandwiches slow-cooked barbecue brisket between melted cheeses.
“The best grilled cheese is one that’s made with love. And a lot of butter … a whole lot of butter,” Kleinert says.
The first day was the hardest. There was an event on Greenville Avenue during one of the hottest days in August 2011, one of those Texas summer days where shoes stick to asphalt. Order tickets were being blown away from a fan in the truck and some people passed out due to the heat. It wasn’t the best start, to say the least.
Six years later, Kleinert and her team have gone through other learning curves, but fortunately, found their rhythm.
“We learned the hard way because there wasn’t really a manual on how to do it then,” she says.
When Ruthie’s partnered with Café Momentum, an organization that helps youth who have been through the justice system find a pathway to new work opportunities, Kleinert was inspired to put a purpose behind the work. Today, almost 95% of the employees come from Café Momentum or Unlocking Doors, a nonprofit that helps former offenders reenter society with service opportunities.
“I have the privilege of working with them every day,” Kleinert says about the team. “I learn from them. I love going to work no matter what headache it is because they have incredible stories. If I were in similar situations, I either wouldn’t have made it or I’d be locked up forever.”
“Since I’ve been working here, everyone is happy,” Laquita Freeman, who has been working at Ruthie’s since June, says. “From Miss Ashlee down to all of my coworkers, we treat each other like a family. I’ve never worked in a work environment where I can leave my stress behind at home and get a positive vibe. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s changed my life slowly and is still changing my life.”
Ruthie’s is not Kleinert’s only mission to help others. In 2017, The Good Foundation was founded by Kleinert and her husband, Chris, to provide grants to local nonprofits with a focus on social issues. They bring awareness to the challenges women and men face and work to rebuild lives.
Dallas Doing Good is another initiative Kleinert is behind, a blend of positive news stories shared to the community on social media platforms. Dallas Doing Good also works with youth who might not be interested in the food truck work, but still want to find a purpose.
“It’s like a mission behind the mission,” Kleinert says. “Instead of just collecting things to do, we’re bringing along our team with us so that they are learning business skills that they can use in other ways.”
Helping others has always been a fabric of her DNA. Kleinert comes from Dallas’ Hunt family, best known for their successful oil business and charity work. She remembers her mom dragging her to events but was drawn to the work. Now, it’s become more gain than pain. She continues to get lunch with her dad every month to discuss businesses.
“My dad has always said a person’s principles or moral codes don’t change,” Kleinert says. “It should apply at a big bank downtown or apply to my little food truck business.”
