Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now on Blackland.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I was abused, I was molested, I went to prison.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Yet she's now an Atlanta business mogul and reality star.
We're talking about the resilience of this black woman during
Women's History Month on Blackland and now as a brown person,
you just feel so invisible.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
It's not where we're from, brothers and sisters.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I welcome you to this joyful and day.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
We celebrate freedom.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Where we are, I know someone's heard something and where
we're going.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
We the people means all the people.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
The Black Information Network presents Blackland with your host Vanessa Tyler.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Life is short and if you're going to do it,
do it now. You can say that is the driving
force behind Go Shay Hawkins because for her, stopping is
not an option. Business entrepreneur, celebrity chef, cookbook author, Go
Shay Hawkins.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Welcome to Blackland.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Hi, thank you, thank you for the introduction. That was nice.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Let's start with your current business. You are in one
of the toughest professions with ups and downs that can
turn on a YELP. I'm talking about a restaurant tour
and in one of the most sophisticated food cities, Atlanta.
Tell us about your food Empire.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yes, so I am a GRG, which is Gachet's Restaurant
Group and anster Gachet's Restaurant Groups. We have Gachet's Breakfast
Bar Entities, and then we also have Gachet's Tapas Bar.
We have Gatchet Salon Sweets, and then we have a
food truck under that.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
In Empire, talk about the breakfast bar and the type
of bars, and I hear the salmon croquettes with the
grips are to die for?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Talk about the food, ah, Yes, absolutely, so we have
a meal that is very appetizing. We offer vegan options,
we offer keto options, and then we offer a lot
of piscatarian options as well.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
And there is a full bar and.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Atgota's Tapas Bar we offer more lobster roles. We have
vegan dishes as well as a full lunch and brunch menu.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
And you also have a merchandise line.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yes, we have a full retail line of grits, pancakes,
hot sauce, as well as our cookbook Cooking.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
With Gohshat a black owned business at a time when
more are consciously seeking to buy and support black.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I think that's very important because a lot of times
we are supporting other others and we're not getting the
same support back. So to keep the money circulating in
our community community is very important to.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Us during this Women's History Month. This is a woman
making it happen. She decided to jump in the food
space from another competitive profession as a beautician, then salon
owner and celebrity stylists because, as everyone knows in Atlanta,
it's all about the celebrity connections. Next on Bold and Bougie,
(03:23):
Goschet's celebrity connections got her a starring role on we
TV's Bold and Bougie. There we got a glimpse into
how hard the road was for her. Here she speaks
to her now grown daughter, who forgives Goshet, who was
not there for her children earlier in their lives. She
couldn't be because, as Gachet confesses, she was in prison.
(03:44):
I'm not all in that against you oh anymore.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
And that's okay. Years ago I went to prison for
two years. I got married at a very young age,
and I was selling drugs.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
The way I got money back in the day definitely
not how I wanted my kids to have to survive.
The only thing I was always thinking about forever was survival.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
My back has always been against the wall.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Well, both and Bougie came about because I was on
the show previously before, I was on La Hair and
I had did some appearance on Atlanta Housewives as well,
and people had seen me and they reached out to
me to see if I would be interested in being
on Bolden Bougie with the cast members that they had
(04:35):
picked out, and I thought it would be a great fit.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
And the rest was history.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
One of the things people love about you is your
honesty about your life and the life lessons you learned
along along the way. Talk about your first year upbringing.
I know you were born in Detroit.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Yes, I was born in Detroit, Michigan. I lived a
very unstable life.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I would say I was abused, I was molested, I
went to prison.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I got married at eighteen. I had two kids.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I had my first child age seventeen, my second child
at nineteen. I went to prison right after nineteen, right
after my second son was born. And I think that
that all contributed to me going to prison, because you know,
I was looking for love and all the wrong places.
(05:35):
So being that I was looking for love and all
the wrong places. I was making bad decisions just trying
to feel that void. And that is one reason why
I started my foundation, which is Goschet Illumination Foundation, which
is a foundation who is for kids who've been sexually molested,
physically abused, and we provide free counseling, etiquette classes, self
(06:02):
esteem building skills. And I came up with that foundation
for the simple fact that I was once one of
those kids, and I wanted to make sure that kids
were afforded the opportunity to be able to receive free counseling.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Had I received the counseling.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Back then, I would have not made half the decisions
that I made in my life.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
She tells me her time in prison two years, compounded
by heartbreak and betrayal.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Which is the crazy part is I got incarcerated from
my husband. My husband, they said on the affidavit they
sent him to me to buy crack cocaine and he
was the one who turned stay evidence on me. Is
how crazy is that, you know, to have your husband
(06:55):
turn state evidence on you. So, you know, I look
back at those times and I don't blame anyone, you know,
I look at all those things as learning curves. They
built you know, strength, you know, they allowed me to
be the person who I am today. You know, so
I don't hate anyone, even the molestation, the physical abuse.
(07:19):
You know, I just you know, look at it all
as learning curves and.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I just keep moving.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
As she keeps rising to the top. She has not
given up on love, although she has made a change
all those bad decisions in life and in love. But
at last happiness with your new wife.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
So I met my wife probably about six years ago.
We got married a year later, and we've been together
on this road, on his journey. And I'm thankful for
her because she's a very sound minded person. She helps
me grow, you know, she's very she's a very good communicator,
(08:09):
and she helps me grow, you know.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
She makes me Uh she's that voice of reason for me.
What's really fascinating to me is that you were down,
but you were not out. You came to Atlanta with
what a few hundred dollars in your pocket?
Speaker 3 (08:26):
I did.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I moved to Atlanta. I literally had just lost everything.
I had went through a bad breakup from from that breakup.
Before that breakup, I had literally a salon in Orlando.
(08:47):
I had uh, two houses, four cars. I had everything
that I wanted and dreamed of, and then I met
this guy that I was dating and he played football,
and he was like, you know, I want you to
move to Detroit, where he was playing at and I
want you to, you know, give up your salon. I'll
(09:10):
take care of you all this. So at that time,
my bills were like thirty thousand dollars a month, and
in my mind, I was like, no, I shouldn't do this,
because my parents had already spoken to me before, if
you know, don't lean on anyone for your well being.
But however, you know, the grass was looking green on
(09:33):
the other side. You know, he was a football player,
and it was like, oh, the life of that. And
I decided to move to Detroit, let my salon go,
and let him take care of my bills. As soon
as I did that, I got to Detroit, and my
entire world change. He was a very abusive guy, verbal, mentally, physically,
(09:57):
and yeah, my entire life change.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
So that thirty thousand dollars that he was paying a month.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I ended up leaving him and he was no longer
paying the bills. I had nowhere to stay and I
lost everything. So all those houses and cars and everything
that I had, I lost it and it went to
foreclosure with repo or whatever. And so I think the
biggest thing through that was it wasn't even the material things.
(10:25):
It was my credit at that moment what I was
thinking of, because I had always been a person who
believed in having good credit. And once I lost everything,
my entire world was just devastating.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
And so I lost everything.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
And then when I ended up moving to Atlanta, I
came here with just a dresser bed and that was it.
My mom ended up having to sign for me to
get a place to stay. And so, yeah, my entire
world had changed. And I think I was at that
time thirty six thirty seven somewhere while there, So, yeah,
(11:02):
my entire world had changed.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
What is the spiritual force inside of you that keeps
you moving forward?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
I think the spiritual force that keeps me moving forward
is simply just believe in your higher power. I've always
been raised on religion, and you know, having a higher power,
that faith driven spirit.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
What's next doing the your sky's the limit agenda?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
My sky's the limit agenda would be franchising. We have
franchising opportunities available.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Ever, the business woman but like the mythical sankofa bird,
she is flying forward while looking back with her Goschet
Illumination Foundation. Gaschet Hawkins a true Renaissance woman and a
true testament of never giving up no matter how bad
it looks.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
All right, thank you so much. I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Follow gsche Hawkins on all social media and Hungary in Atlanta.
Be sure to check out her restaurant Empire. Don't forget
this salmon croquettes and gricks. I'm Vanessa Tyler. Listen and
subscribe to Blackland. A new episode drops every week.