For a while he picked beans at a truckfarm on the city outskirts, making little money but guaranteeing that the family would have at least one thing on the table at suppertime.
Out of the 22, 000 pounds of raw cotton that leave Nelson's farm in the module truck, only about 5, 300 pounds is the white lint that will be turned into T-shirts.
Since his 2005 opening of the tapas-themed Amada restaurant in Philadelphia, he has grown to operate 15 restaurants in five states, a food truck, a catering business and a farm.