16-Year-Old Brothers And Founders Of Viral Glizzy Street Hot Dogs Already See Franchising In Their Future – AfroTech

Just one year after launching Glizzy Street with a single bacon-wrapped hot dog cart and a $400 investment, 16-year-old twin brothers Chazz and Chaze Clemons are already thinking about what’s next.

The Long Beach entrepreneurs, whose business has amassed more than 450,000 social media followers by documenting their journey, recently celebrated Glizzy Street’s first anniversary with a community giveaway in partnership with Raising Cane’s and the City of Long Beach. But for the brothers, the milestone isn’t just about looking back on their first year in business; it’s also about preparing for the next phase of growth.

“We want to actually scale, expand the team,” Chaze Clemons said. Chazz Clemons said the business spent its first year learning the fundamentals.

“Year 1 was just about learning the business, how to cook the hot dog, building the SOPs,” he said. “But year two is taking it further, start scaling. We want to be all over California and further. We want to go nationwide, so that’s the goal.”

As Glizzy Street continues to grow, the brothers said conversations with Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves helped shift the way they think about building a long-term business.

“The first time we met Todd Graves, we learned a lot from him,” Chaze said. “We talked about SOPs, building a good team, how to expand, building a good product and sticking with that product, keeping it simple and trying to give back to the community.”

For Chazz, one conversation in particular sparked a new ambition.

“He taught us a lot about franchising and why he did it,” he said. “We went more in depth into that. We started researching it and seeing if that’s possible for us. So that’s something we’re taking to heart.”

Still, he said the biggest investment Graves made wasn’t financial.

“He has not only invested into us money-wise, but also teaching us stuff too. That’s the biggest investment—way better than the money—teaching us how to run a business.”

Glizzy Street’s founders say entrepreneurship has always been part of their family

While Glizzy Street has become a social media success story, the twins say entrepreneurship has always been part of their upbringing.

“Our family was born into entrepreneurship,” Chazz said. “Our dad runs our family gas station. He has trucks and everything. So at a young age, we always wanted to become businessmen.”

When the brothers turned 16, they decided it was time to start something of their own.

“When we turned 16, we said, ‘Let’s just do it. Let’s go for it,’” he said.

Hearing about Graves’ own path as an entrepreneur reinforced that mindset.

“He told us he failed business class, and he didn’t let that stop him. He just kept going,” Chazz said. “So it’s going to be the same with us. We’ve just got to keep going.”

Why giving back to Long Beach remains part of Glizzy Street’s mission

The anniversary celebration doubled as Glizzy Street’s third community giveaway, something the brothers say has become central to their business.

“We always want to give back,” Chazz said. “We wouldn’t be here without our community. They supported us since the beginning.”

“We were born and raised in Long Beach,” Chazz said. “We got so much support from our schools, the city, Councilwoman Mary Zendejas. So all the support has been very good.”

Chaze echoed that sentiment, saying local leaders have played an important role in helping the business grow.

“The City of Long Beach actually helped us out so much,” he said. “Our schools have been helping us, local restaurants, and they’re actually allowing us to give back to the community. That’s what it’s all about.”

“I want the kids that come by to see that anything’s possible,” Chazz said. “We’re 16, and we’re able to do something like this and partner with such a big brand. That’s what we kind of want people to take away.”