Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley & Tony Gerald.
Ashley & Tony, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
We started in the restaurant industry – Tony at a fast food chain and I started out serving tables at an extremely rural mom & pop spot. Over the years, we both continued work in hospitality – eventually meeting at a restaurant. While Tony moved up the corporate management ladder, I (Ashley) continued to work in the service industry. When we first married, it was always a distant plan to possibly open our own restaurant some day. In 2021, shortly after the birth of our third child and while managing at Rocksalt Grille, Tony was ready to take the leap. What started as an idea for a food truck quickly morphed into the brick-and-mortar Collision Course we have today. We signed our lease in January 2022 and didn’t open our doors until October 21, 2024. In the two years and nine months it took us to renovate our space to open at 61 East Main Street, we faced countless struggles that always somehow turned into opportunities. While making a name for ourselves through pop-up events and annual Downtown Westminster Festivals, we operated a successful brunch at the soon-to-reopen River Downs Golf Course and were also fortunate enough to open The Cafe At Tech Court – a carryout cafe that was open inside FR Conversions from July 2023 until June 2025.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our path to opening has been anything but smooth. There was a joke early on that we were the “masters of pivot” because we were faced with the need to change direction in our planning so often. Our biggest struggle was the overall renovation and repair of our restaurant. We ran into more problems than we ever could have anticipated and that is really hard when you’re fighting to start a business. We make jokes that the easiest part of our journey was acquiring our liquor license – and if you’ve ever done that, you know it’s no easy feat.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We specialize in our version of soul food; it’s a blend of family recipes and creativity learned throughout our years in the industry. We have some straightforward soul food: Shrimp & Grits, Collard Greens, Mac & Cheese to name a few but then also have some unique-to-us dishes inspired by our previous work like our BBQ Chicken Egg Rolls and Shrimp Parmesan Dip. I think the thing we are most proud of is the atmosphere we’ve been able to create within our restaurant; it’s a personal experience for our guests and many people say it feels like they’re visiting us in our home. We pride ourselves in a community over competition mindset; our mantra is, “A rising tide lifts all boats” and we do our best to elevate other small businesses whenever possible.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Don’t do it – just kidding. Kind of. I think the thing we wish we knew is how non-linear opening a business can be; particularly if you are working with finite funds. You have to be ready to get creative and “pivot” whenever needed – which is all the time in our experience. One thing that we’ve repeatedly said was that we hit every possible brick in the road on the way to opening and it prepared us for the chaos that is running your own business. It might be controlled chaos, but it is chaos nonetheless!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.collisioncoursemd.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collisioncoursemd/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/collisioncoursemd/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/RtqpnKoo35c
