Episode 24: Dan Costa Community Breakfast
This episode, Jeanette sits down with lifelong Modesto entrepreneur Dan Costa, who traces his path from a hungry teenager scrubbing pots for a lasagna dinner to building some of the Central Valley's best-known food brands. Dan opens up about growing up severely dyslexic, learning by doing his way up through restaurant kitchens, and eventually opening The Creamery, Velvet Creamery, and the top-25-grossing Mallard's Restaurant. He explains how customer demand turned his in-house sauces into a nationally distributed pasta and sauce line — one he sold to Tyson Foods in 1997.
From there, Dan describes his unexpected leap into apparel: buying Royal Robins Outdoor Clothing on a whim, landing the FBI as a customer for a climbing pant, and watching that relationship grow into the 5.11 Tactical brand, now a staple of law enforcement and military gear worldwide.
The conversation also touches on Dan's upcoming community brunch, one of the region's largest fundraisers held every two years, and his ongoing work mentoring local business owners. The episode closes with a sponsor segment featuring Enrique Calderon of Evolution Heating and Cooling, who talks programmable thermostats, utility rebates, and the show's current $59 AC tune-up special (209-216-7240).
