I was a broke American living in New Zealand. A viral TikTok turned my taco stand into 3 restaurants.

Sean Yarbrough owns three restaurants. Courtesy of Sean Yarbrough 2026-04-02T20:24:01.229Z Share Copy link Email Facebook WhatsApp X LinkedIn Bluesky Threads lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Impact Link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in. Sean Yarbrough is a 39-year-old American who moved to New Zealand in 2021. Sean said the thing he missed the most from the US was Mexican food. Three years later, Sean, once homeless, has opened three successful restaurants. AI-generated summary Summaries are generated by an AI model trained on Business Insider's articles. AI may make mistakes or provide inaccurate/incomplete information. We're unable to load that answer right now. Please try again. What inspired Sean to move to New Zealand? What role did social media play in Sean's success? How did Sean's menu choices impact his success? How did Sean's early life influence his business? What challenges did Sean face starting out? This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sean Yarbrough, owner of Broke Boy Taco. It has been edited for length and clarity. Loading audio narration... In 2022, I was flipping burgers when the owner of the burger joint asked me what I missed most about the US.I moved to New Zealand in 2021, and what I missed most was Mexican food. My boss asked if I knew how to cook tacos, and after I told him I did, he said I could cook them the next day. I did, and we tasted them. He told me I should quit my job and sell the tacos. They were that good. The thing was, I didn't have any idea where to start. He told me to just buy a little flat-top grill, set up an Instagram account, and start cooking.I was able to quit my jobA buddy of mine said I should call my venture Broke Boy Taco, and since I've been a broke boy my whole life, I decided to go with it. I figured it couldn't be all that hard — just buy ingredients, get a table, make a sign, and take a picture to tell people where I was. The burger joint I was working at — Ralph's — reposted anything I'd put up, so I got a whole bunch of their customers to start. Sean Yarbrough is the owner of Broke Boy Taco in New Zealand. Courtesy of Sean Yarbrough First, 20 people showed up when I set up outside for the first time. The second time, 40 people showed up. After that, I would say it just doubled every time I cooked, which ended up being once every three weeks to start. Once I reached 100 customers consistently, I knew I could afford to quit my job and start selling tacos three times a week.A restaurant owner reached out to me and said they were looking for someone to take over their kitchen because it was sitting empty. I took my little grill and cooked tacos there for six months, paying him 10% of whatever I made. TikTok really helped my businessEven though I had been cooking a variety of tacos, I decided to put only three items on my menu: Coke, Birria (slow-cooked beef) tacos, and Birria ramen. It was what I liked most, and what I cooked best.I asked a friend to record a video of me cooking on his phone and then post it to TikTok and Instagram. The next morning, I woke to thousands of new followers. When I showed up at work the next day at noon to open at 5 p.m., people were already lining up for my tacos. Sean Yarbrough's friend posted about his tacos on TikTok. Courtesy of Sean Yarbrough The minute I saw all those people, I knew I had hit the lottery. If I could convince people to come and try my food, I knew they'd be return customers.I was homeless most of my childhoodAs I shared with people about my story — how I'd been homeless in Kentucky for most of my childhood, how I had been a drug addict and alcoholic, how I had been in jail — they were curious to know who I was and how my tacos tasted. I wasn't just some rich business owner who wanted to generate income. I just wanted to cook good food. I saved money, with my eye on buying my own restaurant, and that's what I did in October 2023.I kept seeing that a big UFC start would show up in line to buy tacos. People were always surrounding him while he waited to get photos. I told him that if he let me know he was coming, I could get his order ready for when he arrived. We became friends, and he later told me he wanted to invest in my business, so I used the money he invested to buy a food truck. And then I opened two more restaurants.It's all happened in less than three years and feels completely bizarre. It's unbelievable that people know who I am — this guy from Kentucky cooking tacos in New Zealand. People want photos with me, and know the name of my cat. I've been able to buy my first car — the first car I've ever bought — because of Broke Boy Taco.Sometimes, I think back and ask if I'd change anything, because there was a lot of difficult stuff that got me to this point. I suppose, though, I might not have gotten to where I am if anything had been different. I'm exhausted from sleeping an average of four or five hours each night, but I'm so happy. I've got this opportunity, and I can't let it go. I'm keeping my head down, staying focused. If this much has happened in such a short space of time, imagine what's ahead.