May 13, 2024 • 16 mins
Chef Lashon Burrell founded Cajun Cafe Chicago in 2022. Putting her own special spin on Southern cuisine, Chef Lashon has made hundreds smile with her delicious food and spectacular customer service.
Cajun Cafe Chicago has become a highlight at corporate events, galas, fundraisers, and a variety of other special occasions. Over the years, Cajun Cafe Chicago has also demonstrated a strong commitment to serving and investing in the Westside and Southside communities.
This dedication to community engagement has led to valuable partnerships with esteemed organizations such as Dion's Chicago Dream, The Blackhawks Foundation, The Obama Foundation, Chicago Bulls, YMCA Chicago, and many more.
Learn more information and put in an order with Chef Lashon here!
Cajun Cafe Chicago has become a highlight at corporate events, galas, fundraisers, and a variety of other special occasions. Over the years, Cajun Cafe Chicago has also demonstrated a strong commitment to serving and investing in the Westside and Southside communities.
This dedication to community engagement has led to valuable partnerships with esteemed organizations such as Dion's Chicago Dream, The Blackhawks Foundation, The Obama Foundation, Chicago Bulls, YMCA Chicago, and many more.
Learn more information and put in an order with Chef Lashon here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Putting the spotlight on chicago Lands growingblack businesses. iHeartMedia Chicago presents the Brilliantly
Black Podcast. Here's our host,Jasmine Bennett. Hello everyone, and welcome
back today. I'm here with ChefLashan Burrell of Cajun Cafe Chicago. How
are you today? I'm great.Thank you for having me, Jazmine,
I'm super excited to be here.I'm so happy you're here. And she
(00:22):
brought gifts. She brought gifts.I'm very excited. Snacky snack, y'all,
little snacky snack. You know,it wouldn't be right if we didn't
bring Cajun Cafe to them. Makesure they taste it. Oh, thank
you, thank you so much.Okay, so let's get into Cajun Cafe
Chicago. What even inspired you towant to start cooking and make a career
out of it. Yeah? So, actually I did a gourmet's food class
in high school and I just fellin love with cooking, with the art
(00:45):
of it, with everything that youcan do. How depending on your background
and your experiences, you can makeso many different things, and so for
me, I also went to schoolfor this. I have my bachelor's in
clinari and I got my master's inbusiness, and I was like, I
want to turn this into my ownbusiness. And so I took everything I
learned over the years working at differentrestaurants, different hotels and places like that,
and I was like, let mestart my own business. Wow,
(01:07):
yeah, and you did it.I did? You did it? Okay?
And how long has Keajun Cafe Chicagobeen around? So I actually started
full time during a pandemic. SoI started going into people's homes and I
was doing intimate dining. So youknow everything you see on TikTok where people
come in and said tay, whatwas make it look good? Makeing?
Yeah, we were doing that.And so from there, I had some
clients that ask me what you liketo do corporate dining? You know,
(01:29):
you should become a CPS vendor,a Noble School vendor. So I was
like, okay, it's a thing. So from that, I actually got
my first annual contract with Capital Charities. In twenty twenty two, I was
able to secure a location at theHatchery Chicago, which is where I'm cooking
at now. And it see mythird year being full time there doing corporate
dining. Wow, that's amazing becauseI know. It's like when you have
(01:49):
a passion and you say you've alwayshad it and then you actually get to
make a career out of it,and it's like it never feels like work.
Yes, So you just feel likeyou're just doing what you love and
you're making other people happy. That'sgreat. Yeah, I feel like you
know, with food, it bringspeople together, regardless of the occasion,
Like every day that you have,what it's the office party, whether it's
a wedding, whether it's a retirementparty, you're always gonna need food and
(02:12):
people gonna remember it. If itwas bad, they don't remember, and
if it was good, it wasgonna remember it. So I felt like,
for us, I need to makesure that the food tastes good,
it looked good. We're on time, we're a professional, and they were
offering you a whole experience. It'snot just about it tasting it looking good,
but it's the professional listen that comesbehind it and the connection that we're
building with you. Remember giving youthat food. If I can give you
a moment that takes you back toyour childhood, Yeah, you're like,
(02:35):
man, you put your foot inthese greens, like it's that experience,
right, Yeah, absolutely. Imean that's a really important part I would
say about any business, but especiallyfood. As you say, it brings
people together and then the overall experience, it makes them want to come back
to you, you know, makesthem want to have a little snack again,
or multiple snacks for the whole officeor the whole party. Right,
So when you first started during thepandemic, Like, how was that like
(03:00):
navigating the whole different? Yeah?Like for me as a person that worked
in restaurants and hotels, like goinginto people's homes and doing that intimately,
it was different. But it alsogave me a chance to connect with them
on a different level that I wasn'tused to. And I was like,
I really like this, Like it'snot just me being in the kitchen behind
the stove. I'm actually in frontof you, engaging with you and seeing
(03:21):
your reaction and everything right then andthere, and that's priceless to me.
Like that's what makes me happy.That's what I got into this business for,
you know. Like, so I'mjust I'm just happy to be able
to have my dream and be ableto connect with people in so many different
ways, whether it's from like Isay, office parties or weddings. It's
just I get to make memories everyday. That's beautiful. And you're a
(03:43):
part of other people's memories like theweddings and all that. So that's amazing.
So what would you say The missionof Kejun Cafe Chicago is So our
mission is to, like I toldyou, connect with people through food and
culture while creating generational wealth for ourwestern South Side communities. And so the
way that we do that is byone, yeah, I'm making you some
good food, but I'm also workingwith companies like the YMCA and the Black
(04:06):
Hawks, and the Obama Foundations andDione's Dream and Peace Running seven seven three
one, you know, all thesedifferent people where we can actually collaborate together
and make things happen. A goodexample is during the summertime we did something
called Local Lunchbox where he made fiftytwo thousand meals for students, you know,
during the summertime and forty three days. It's also working on people like
(04:27):
Dione who's fighting food and security onthe South Side, and we can partner
and then do things. Are workingwith Jackie and Peace Runners, who has
a you know life, you know, willness and lifestyle balance that he's doing
and we can work with him andmake healthy food that goes for the runners
and fuels them. So it's justfor me. I feel like being able
to do that and work with mycommunity is something that's really big as well
(04:48):
and giving back. And then Ialso work with youth, so I bring
to youth and I'm giving them,you know, educational experience and own the
job training and they getting the companywhen I go to all these different events
and they get to learn and seehow it is too. Yeah, the
youth need us, they really do. They really do. So I think
it's great that you are doing thatand you're bringing them along and showing like,
(05:09):
yeah, this is possible no matterwhere you come from, no matter
what you look like, no matterwho is trying to tell you that you
can't do something, you can yep. So that's beautiful that you're doing that.
And you, I know you saidthat it's about the connection for you.
But there are any other like favoriteparts about doing Cajun Cafe Chicago FO
Yeah, of course, right,Like, so that's one big thing.
(05:30):
I think, being able to becreative and kind of showcase different things that
I like to do, all thingsthat I like to eat. You know,
it's like, hey, when Ifirst started, I was like,
let me do this peach tenancy Frenchtoast. Now at the time, I
want a Hennessy level, but Iwas like, we're gonna try with this
French toast and you know these peachesin this coblin. We're gonna see what
happened. It was good. Youknow. Our is being able to create
things like my sickness. You're aBayou sauce, which is a sweet and
(05:53):
spicy sauce. It can go onechicken, it can go on fish,
like it doesn't matter whether it's fry, whether it's you know, salmon and
you ribs. So it's being ableto have that creative mindset and being able
to come up with different things andjust sharing it with the world, I
think is something that I really reallyenjoyed. Yeah, and let's talk about
the team or do you have ateam or is it just you? I
(06:15):
do. I have a marketing marketingmanager shout out to carme and who you
know, CPA. I have mymy kitchen team that works for me.
You know, they work hard,you know, thank you for everything that
you guys are doing. I alsohave a friend of house team that comes
out and help me when I'm doingon site events. It takes a village.
You know, having a small businessis not easy, but it's you
know, definitely worth it, andso you have to make sure that you
(06:36):
have the right people in place andall different things to go smoothly, especially
when you're starting to grow and you'reworking with these different corporations and just different
people, and you know, atthe end of the day, I want
to make sure that they have thebest quality service they can get. And
so for me, it's about trainingand making sure that I have everything that
I need and that I give myteam what they need to execute the job
correctly. Right. Yeah, Iwas about to ask that, like how
(06:58):
did you find, like the agreat team that you do have? So
honestly, I partner with Impact Culinary, which is at the Hatchery, so
I have some people that came fromthere. I also partner with Kitchen Inspirations
on the West Side. I have, but my lead cook actually came from
Kitchen Inspirations. And then some peoplejust you know, just applied and just
met them along the way and theywere like, hey, you know,
would you like to you know,we want to come work with you.
(07:20):
And I was like, all right, come on, you know and see
what we're gonna do. Tanne themup and we make it happen. Okay,
okay, And going back to thebeginning. So if there was like
any advice you could give to someonethat wants to make your career out of
cooking, like where should they gofirst? If you have a dream and
a passion, like go after it. And I feel like at the end
(07:41):
of the day, it's okay toask questions like we don't know everything.
You know, go learn and gotalk to some people that's been doing this
longer than you. They have somuch knowledge and well that they can share
with you so you don't make thesame mistakes. And so I feel like,
you know, also do your research. You know, what's your niche,
what side of town do you wantto be on? What are you
actually targeting? Is it corporate?Is it you know, fine dining?
(08:01):
Is it you know, doing privateyou know, private chefing. So I
feel like, look at what itis that you really want to do and
then focus in on it, likeyou know, a small t bit for
me is my original name with Sugarand Spies, Inc. And that I've
changed it to Cajun Cafe Chicago.So I learned that with that. If
I'm going after a certain market andI'm targeting them, right, they need
to be able to find you.So I had to learn that. But
(08:22):
if I wouldn't have known what Iknow now, like I still be struggling
with sugar and spies trying to havepeople find me. So I feel like
it's okay. Sometimes you're gonna makemistakes, but it's okay because those mistakes
set you up for the future sothat you can be better, right,
right, You just you have tolearn from everything. You have to always
be a student. I say thatwith everything, but I mean I can
only imagine owning a business that's constantlylearning and constantly applying, you know,
(08:46):
what you learn to the next dishor the next event. So yeah,
that's amazing advice. And did youever go through any like self doubt when
you were coming up with especially duringthe pandemic. I can only imagine how
crazy that was. I mean,yeah, of course, Like I was
like, oh my goodness, Likeit's one thing to work under the company
and cook and you're like, okay, well, yeah, they paid for
it. They're gonna like it whatever. But it's another thing when it's like,
(09:09):
Okay, this is my name,your own. Yeah, Like like
I am responsible for CAJI. Youcan't fete Chicago and the way that things
go out at the case. Youcan't fa in Chicago. I'm responsible for
the food, the timeliness, thechina, all those things. So it's
like for me, I was like, man, are people gonna like it?
And so I feel like to thinkthat just three years ago I was
(09:31):
at home cooking in someone's living room, and how I'm working with the Bulls
and the black Hawks come on nowin the world and it's just it's it's
crazy to me, like it's adream come true to be in some of
the rooms I'm in. It it'syou know, I'm thankful for the partnerships,
you know, Bemo partnerships, youknow, even working with the Hatchery
and the Great the Food Depository,Like it's just amazing to see that if
you have a dream and you wantto go after it, like go after
(09:54):
it because you never know what canhappen, and you don't know who's gonna
support you to and you know whoreally believes in you as well. And
I've learned that over the last coupleof years I've been doing this, people
have really poured into my business andI'm just extremely grateful and thankful for that,
as you guys should. As youguys should. And it's funny that
you were mentioning, you know,the Bulls and all the other organizations that
(10:16):
you work with. It's like,that's huge, that's huge. So it
just goes back to you saying whichI say all the time too, like
you have to go after your dreams. Like because one thing about your calling.
You know, if you feel thatit's gonna always call you, you
could try to hang up, youcould try to ignore the phone call.
You could try to be like,oh, I'm gonna do something else.
It's too big, it's too much. Like no, that is gonna always
(10:39):
keep you up at night. It'sgonna always come back. So I agree
with that, like wholeheartedly. Youhave to go after it because you never
know what's gonna happen. You couldbe working with the Black Hogs, you
could be, you know, doingall these things leaving the impact on your
community, Like that's that's amazing,amazing. So with all the stuff that
you do, how do you managelike the work life balance. You know,
(11:00):
having time for yourself is important.I had to learn boundaries. I
had to learn how to put myphone or do not to start in order
for me to have a peace ofmind, because if not, you get
caught up and checking the emails,checking the phone, answering the phone calls.
Because your business is like your baby, like you want to make sure
that it's okay and that everything getsgreat, be fine with it every second
of the day. So I feellike setting up boundaries, you know,
also giving yourself time to enjoy lifewith friends, with family, you know,
(11:24):
and that's whether that's going and doinga spall day or whether that's traveling,
Like you need that. You haveto have it because if not,
you get consumer work. So Ifeel like definitely having that self care day
or just having a day just justfor you to relax. Well that's just
you could just be sitting at homewatching Netflix. It don't matter, give
yourself that time. I would.I would say that I think almost every
single business owner that I interview saysthat, like, you have to have
(11:48):
a self care day because it's likeessential. You'll just get wrapped up in
work, work, work, work, work, and then don't let you
have a family, you know.Yeah, that's a whole nother thing.
And it's like, you will driveyour so crazy if you don't make any
time for yourself. Yes, soI'm glad that you said that too.
And now I have to ask youa little bit about like we talked about
(12:09):
the mission of Cajun Cafe Chicago,but what's like your personal mission on your
personal why why you do what youdo? I love what I do.
I love I love being able tomake people happy, and I love being
able to see the excitement that theyhave when we bring food in and they
like, well that's me, ohgood, like we did you know,
So that for me is just itjust makes it makes me happy. I've
(12:31):
always been a person that loved tocook, you know. I thoroughly enjoy
it. And I feel like ifI can do this and I can make
other people happy, then why not. If I can do this and I
can give back and help someone andteach them what I've learned along the way,
then why not if I could takesomebody and pull them with me on
this journey and get them to wherethey're trying to get to. Whether it's
to stay with me or what thisto go to the next level, then
why not? And so that's mywhy I feel like at the end of
(12:54):
the day, I got people that'srelying on me, but I'm relying on
them as well or better and tocontinue to learn. So yeah, happy
for that. Yeah, And Ialways say that I think Chicago has this
thing where it's like, oh,there's not enough room at the table for
everybody, or everything has to besuch a competition. But I wish people
would realize that it does work outso much better when you work together,
(13:16):
Like you can climb to the toptwo together, you can meet each other
at the top together, Like youdon't have to be all like, oh,
I'm gonna gate keep my information andlike just share that wealth, share
that knowledge because it's needed in ourcommunity. It really is. But I
also feel like you never know whatsomebody gonna be. They could be,
you know, over here on thestreet selling corn today, you know,
(13:39):
are telling tacos, are selling friedchicken or whatever today, But then they
could be at that corporate dining roomtomorrow, right, You just never know.
I feel like at the end ofthe day, it's important to one
treat people fairly, but also,like you say, to share the knowledge
there's money out here for everybody.Right, always tell people this. When
you look at these places, wecan say a bank, you got BMO,
you got Wins, you got Bankof America. They are all in
(14:01):
the same area, like, right, And there's somebody that wants to go
to BMO. There's someone that wantsto go to Bank of America. There's
someone that wants to go to WINTERSS. Right. They don't mean that,
Hey, I can have two bankaccounts. Same thing with catering, all
with any business. They're not gonnaalways want cag in cafe. But guess
what today I want cag cafe.Tomorrow I won't Taylor Stockos. The next
day I want dope drop, youknow. And that's okay, that's all
right, But why not give eachother that information and to help uplift each
(14:24):
other? Because guess what when Iget in the room, were all in
the room say that yes? Okay. So now I have to ask my
favorite question of this podcast, whatis being brilliantly black means to you?
So being brilliantly back to me meansbeing able to share your craft, being
excited about who you are as aperson, as a brand, and being
(14:46):
able to share that with the world. And I think for me as a
as a woman, as a blackwoman, as a business owner, being
able to show people that I lovewhat I do and having a team that
loves what they do, it's like, man, as a black woman,
I can do this regardless around.Come for I'm not even from Chicago,
I'm from Eas St. Louis.But I'm been making a difference. Yeah,
(15:07):
I'm making a change. I'm havingto make somebody else love, you
know, life better. I feellike for me, it's being just that
being yourself and loving who you are. And I think this business has shown
me that, it continues to showme that daily, and that's a beautiful
thing. That's a beautiful thing.You gotta love what you do, and
you gotta love yourself and your team. Shout out to the team again,
(15:28):
because it wouldn't be possible without this, I would be able to do this.
Okay, I can't do it bymyself, Mabe. I need a
whole team to make this happen.So yeah, yes, well, thank
you for joining me today. Andbefore we go, you have to,
of course let people know where theycan place the orders they follow you on
social media all come so Cajun CafeChicago says www dot Cajuncafe Chicago dot com.
(15:48):
That's also Cajun Cafe Chicago on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Please add us reach out to usif you have any questions. I'm
always here to answer them. Imean, just thank you guys for listening,
and I hope to see you atyour next event. Make you some
good food. Say that, okay, Well, thank you again for joining
me, chef. This has beenamazing and I'm so excited to taste the
(16:11):
food, so excited. Thank youso much. Of course, thanks for
listening to The Brilliantly Black Podcast.Produced by Jasmine Bennett and Ryan La Executive
produced by Echo Robinson and Derek Brown. If you're a black business and would
like to be featured, register yourbusiness or service now at rock ninety five
to five dot com slash brilliant.The Brilliantly Black Podcast is a production of
(16:34):
iHeartMedia, Chicago
Putting the spotlight on chicago Lands growingblack businesses. iHeartMedia Chicago presents the Brilliantly
Black Podcast. Here's our host,Jasmine Bennett. Hello everyone, and welcome
back today. I'm here with ChefLashan Burrell of Cajun Cafe Chicago. How
are you today? I'm great.Thank you for having me, Jazmine,
I'm super excited to be here.I'm so happy you're here. And she
(00:22):
brought gifts. She brought gifts.I'm very excited. Snacky snack, y'all,
little snacky snack. You know,it wouldn't be right if we didn't
bring Cajun Cafe to them. Makesure they taste it. Oh, thank
you, thank you so much.Okay, so let's get into Cajun Cafe
Chicago. What even inspired you towant to start cooking and make a career
out of it. Yeah? So, actually I did a gourmet's food class
in high school and I just fellin love with cooking, with the art
(00:45):
of it, with everything that youcan do. How depending on your background
and your experiences, you can makeso many different things, and so for
me, I also went to schoolfor this. I have my bachelor's in
clinari and I got my master's inbusiness, and I was like, I
want to turn this into my ownbusiness. And so I took everything I
learned over the years working at differentrestaurants, different hotels and places like that,
and I was like, let mestart my own business. Wow,
(01:07):
yeah, and you did it.I did? You did it? Okay?
And how long has Keajun Cafe Chicagobeen around? So I actually started
full time during a pandemic. SoI started going into people's homes and I
was doing intimate dining. So youknow everything you see on TikTok where people
come in and said tay, whatwas make it look good? Makeing?
Yeah, we were doing that.And so from there, I had some
clients that ask me what you liketo do corporate dining? You know,
(01:29):
you should become a CPS vendor,a Noble School vendor. So I was
like, okay, it's a thing. So from that, I actually got
my first annual contract with Capital Charities. In twenty twenty two, I was
able to secure a location at theHatchery Chicago, which is where I'm cooking
at now. And it see mythird year being full time there doing corporate
dining. Wow, that's amazing becauseI know. It's like when you have
(01:49):
a passion and you say you've alwayshad it and then you actually get to
make a career out of it,and it's like it never feels like work.
Yes, So you just feel likeyou're just doing what you love and
you're making other people happy. That'sgreat. Yeah, I feel like you
know, with food, it bringspeople together, regardless of the occasion,
Like every day that you have,what it's the office party, whether it's
a wedding, whether it's a retirementparty, you're always gonna need food and
(02:12):
people gonna remember it. If itwas bad, they don't remember, and
if it was good, it wasgonna remember it. So I felt like,
for us, I need to makesure that the food tastes good,
it looked good. We're on time, we're a professional, and they were
offering you a whole experience. It'snot just about it tasting it looking good,
but it's the professional listen that comesbehind it and the connection that we're
building with you. Remember giving youthat food. If I can give you
a moment that takes you back toyour childhood, Yeah, you're like,
(02:35):
man, you put your foot inthese greens, like it's that experience,
right, Yeah, absolutely. Imean that's a really important part I would
say about any business, but especiallyfood. As you say, it brings
people together and then the overall experience, it makes them want to come back
to you, you know, makesthem want to have a little snack again,
or multiple snacks for the whole officeor the whole party. Right,
So when you first started during thepandemic, Like, how was that like
(03:00):
navigating the whole different? Yeah?Like for me as a person that worked
in restaurants and hotels, like goinginto people's homes and doing that intimately,
it was different. But it alsogave me a chance to connect with them
on a different level that I wasn'tused to. And I was like,
I really like this, Like it'snot just me being in the kitchen behind
the stove. I'm actually in frontof you, engaging with you and seeing
(03:21):
your reaction and everything right then andthere, and that's priceless to me.
Like that's what makes me happy.That's what I got into this business for,
you know. Like, so I'mjust I'm just happy to be able
to have my dream and be ableto connect with people in so many different
ways, whether it's from like Isay, office parties or weddings. It's
just I get to make memories everyday. That's beautiful. And you're a
(03:43):
part of other people's memories like theweddings and all that. So that's amazing.
So what would you say The missionof Kejun Cafe Chicago is So our
mission is to, like I toldyou, connect with people through food and
culture while creating generational wealth for ourwestern South Side communities. And so the
way that we do that is byone, yeah, I'm making you some
good food, but I'm also workingwith companies like the YMCA and the Black
(04:06):
Hawks, and the Obama Foundations andDione's Dream and Peace Running seven seven three
one, you know, all thesedifferent people where we can actually collaborate together
and make things happen. A goodexample is during the summertime we did something
called Local Lunchbox where he made fiftytwo thousand meals for students, you know,
during the summertime and forty three days. It's also working on people like
(04:27):
Dione who's fighting food and security onthe South Side, and we can partner
and then do things. Are workingwith Jackie and Peace Runners, who has
a you know life, you know, willness and lifestyle balance that he's doing
and we can work with him andmake healthy food that goes for the runners
and fuels them. So it's justfor me. I feel like being able
to do that and work with mycommunity is something that's really big as well
(04:48):
and giving back. And then Ialso work with youth, so I bring
to youth and I'm giving them,you know, educational experience and own the
job training and they getting the companywhen I go to all these different events
and they get to learn and seehow it is too. Yeah, the
youth need us, they really do. They really do. So I think
it's great that you are doing thatand you're bringing them along and showing like,
(05:09):
yeah, this is possible no matterwhere you come from, no matter
what you look like, no matterwho is trying to tell you that you
can't do something, you can yep. So that's beautiful that you're doing that.
And you, I know you saidthat it's about the connection for you.
But there are any other like favoriteparts about doing Cajun Cafe Chicago FO
Yeah, of course, right,Like, so that's one big thing.
(05:30):
I think, being able to becreative and kind of showcase different things that
I like to do, all thingsthat I like to eat. You know,
it's like, hey, when Ifirst started, I was like,
let me do this peach tenancy Frenchtoast. Now at the time, I
want a Hennessy level, but Iwas like, we're gonna try with this
French toast and you know these peachesin this coblin. We're gonna see what
happened. It was good. Youknow. Our is being able to create
things like my sickness. You're aBayou sauce, which is a sweet and
(05:53):
spicy sauce. It can go onechicken, it can go on fish,
like it doesn't matter whether it's fry, whether it's you know, salmon and
you ribs. So it's being ableto have that creative mindset and being able
to come up with different things andjust sharing it with the world, I
think is something that I really reallyenjoyed. Yeah, and let's talk about
the team or do you have ateam or is it just you? I
(06:15):
do. I have a marketing marketingmanager shout out to carme and who you
know, CPA. I have mymy kitchen team that works for me.
You know, they work hard,you know, thank you for everything that
you guys are doing. I alsohave a friend of house team that comes
out and help me when I'm doingon site events. It takes a village.
You know, having a small businessis not easy, but it's you
know, definitely worth it, andso you have to make sure that you
(06:36):
have the right people in place andall different things to go smoothly, especially
when you're starting to grow and you'reworking with these different corporations and just different
people, and you know, atthe end of the day, I want
to make sure that they have thebest quality service they can get. And
so for me, it's about trainingand making sure that I have everything that
I need and that I give myteam what they need to execute the job
correctly. Right. Yeah, Iwas about to ask that, like how
(06:58):
did you find, like the agreat team that you do have? So
honestly, I partner with Impact Culinary, which is at the Hatchery, so
I have some people that came fromthere. I also partner with Kitchen Inspirations
on the West Side. I have, but my lead cook actually came from
Kitchen Inspirations. And then some peoplejust you know, just applied and just
met them along the way and theywere like, hey, you know,
would you like to you know,we want to come work with you.
(07:20):
And I was like, all right, come on, you know and see
what we're gonna do. Tanne themup and we make it happen. Okay,
okay, And going back to thebeginning. So if there was like
any advice you could give to someonethat wants to make your career out of
cooking, like where should they gofirst? If you have a dream and
a passion, like go after it. And I feel like at the end
(07:41):
of the day, it's okay toask questions like we don't know everything.
You know, go learn and gotalk to some people that's been doing this
longer than you. They have somuch knowledge and well that they can share
with you so you don't make thesame mistakes. And so I feel like,
you know, also do your research. You know, what's your niche,
what side of town do you wantto be on? What are you
actually targeting? Is it corporate?Is it you know, fine dining?
(08:01):
Is it you know, doing privateyou know, private chefing. So I
feel like, look at what itis that you really want to do and
then focus in on it, likeyou know, a small t bit for
me is my original name with Sugarand Spies, Inc. And that I've
changed it to Cajun Cafe Chicago.So I learned that with that. If
I'm going after a certain market andI'm targeting them, right, they need
to be able to find you.So I had to learn that. But
(08:22):
if I wouldn't have known what Iknow now, like I still be struggling
with sugar and spies trying to havepeople find me. So I feel like
it's okay. Sometimes you're gonna makemistakes, but it's okay because those mistakes
set you up for the future sothat you can be better, right,
right, You just you have tolearn from everything. You have to always
be a student. I say thatwith everything, but I mean I can
only imagine owning a business that's constantlylearning and constantly applying, you know,
(08:46):
what you learn to the next dishor the next event. So yeah,
that's amazing advice. And did youever go through any like self doubt when
you were coming up with especially duringthe pandemic. I can only imagine how
crazy that was. I mean,yeah, of course, Like I was
like, oh my goodness, Likeit's one thing to work under the company
and cook and you're like, okay, well, yeah, they paid for
it. They're gonna like it whatever. But it's another thing when it's like,
(09:09):
Okay, this is my name,your own. Yeah, Like like
I am responsible for CAJI. Youcan't fete Chicago and the way that things
go out at the case. Youcan't fa in Chicago. I'm responsible for
the food, the timeliness, thechina, all those things. So it's
like for me, I was like, man, are people gonna like it?
And so I feel like to thinkthat just three years ago I was
(09:31):
at home cooking in someone's living room, and how I'm working with the Bulls
and the black Hawks come on nowin the world and it's just it's it's
crazy to me, like it's adream come true to be in some of
the rooms I'm in. It it'syou know, I'm thankful for the partnerships,
you know, Bemo partnerships, youknow, even working with the Hatchery
and the Great the Food Depository,Like it's just amazing to see that if
you have a dream and you wantto go after it, like go after
(09:54):
it because you never know what canhappen, and you don't know who's gonna
support you to and you know whoreally believes in you as well. And
I've learned that over the last coupleof years I've been doing this, people
have really poured into my business andI'm just extremely grateful and thankful for that,
as you guys should. As youguys should. And it's funny that
you were mentioning, you know,the Bulls and all the other organizations that
(10:16):
you work with. It's like,that's huge, that's huge. So it
just goes back to you saying whichI say all the time too, like
you have to go after your dreams. Like because one thing about your calling.
You know, if you feel thatit's gonna always call you, you
could try to hang up, youcould try to ignore the phone call.
You could try to be like,oh, I'm gonna do something else.
It's too big, it's too much. Like no, that is gonna always
(10:39):
keep you up at night. It'sgonna always come back. So I agree
with that, like wholeheartedly. Youhave to go after it because you never
know what's gonna happen. You couldbe working with the Black Hogs, you
could be, you know, doingall these things leaving the impact on your
community, Like that's that's amazing,amazing. So with all the stuff that
you do, how do you managelike the work life balance. You know,
(11:00):
having time for yourself is important.I had to learn boundaries. I
had to learn how to put myphone or do not to start in order
for me to have a peace ofmind, because if not, you get
caught up and checking the emails,checking the phone, answering the phone calls.
Because your business is like your baby, like you want to make sure
that it's okay and that everything getsgreat, be fine with it every second
of the day. So I feellike setting up boundaries, you know,
also giving yourself time to enjoy lifewith friends, with family, you know,
(11:24):
and that's whether that's going and doinga spall day or whether that's traveling,
Like you need that. You haveto have it because if not,
you get consumer work. So Ifeel like definitely having that self care day
or just having a day just justfor you to relax. Well that's just
you could just be sitting at homewatching Netflix. It don't matter, give
yourself that time. I would.I would say that I think almost every
single business owner that I interview saysthat, like, you have to have
(11:48):
a self care day because it's likeessential. You'll just get wrapped up in
work, work, work, work, work, and then don't let you
have a family, you know.Yeah, that's a whole nother thing.
And it's like, you will driveyour so crazy if you don't make any
time for yourself. Yes, soI'm glad that you said that too.
And now I have to ask youa little bit about like we talked about
(12:09):
the mission of Cajun Cafe Chicago,but what's like your personal mission on your
personal why why you do what youdo? I love what I do.
I love I love being able tomake people happy, and I love being
able to see the excitement that theyhave when we bring food in and they
like, well that's me, ohgood, like we did you know,
So that for me is just itjust makes it makes me happy. I've
(12:31):
always been a person that loved tocook, you know. I thoroughly enjoy
it. And I feel like ifI can do this and I can make
other people happy, then why not. If I can do this and I
can give back and help someone andteach them what I've learned along the way,
then why not if I could takesomebody and pull them with me on
this journey and get them to wherethey're trying to get to. Whether it's
to stay with me or what thisto go to the next level, then
why not? And so that's mywhy I feel like at the end of
(12:54):
the day, I got people that'srelying on me, but I'm relying on
them as well or better and tocontinue to learn. So yeah, happy
for that. Yeah, And Ialways say that I think Chicago has this
thing where it's like, oh,there's not enough room at the table for
everybody, or everything has to besuch a competition. But I wish people
would realize that it does work outso much better when you work together,
(13:16):
Like you can climb to the toptwo together, you can meet each other
at the top together, Like youdon't have to be all like, oh,
I'm gonna gate keep my information andlike just share that wealth, share
that knowledge because it's needed in ourcommunity. It really is. But I
also feel like you never know whatsomebody gonna be. They could be,
you know, over here on thestreet selling corn today, you know,
(13:39):
are telling tacos, are selling friedchicken or whatever today, But then they
could be at that corporate dining roomtomorrow, right, You just never know.
I feel like at the end ofthe day, it's important to one
treat people fairly, but also,like you say, to share the knowledge
there's money out here for everybody.Right, always tell people this. When
you look at these places, wecan say a bank, you got BMO,
you got Wins, you got Bankof America. They are all in
(14:01):
the same area, like, right, And there's somebody that wants to go
to BMO. There's someone that wantsto go to Bank of America. There's
someone that wants to go to WINTERSS. Right. They don't mean that,
Hey, I can have two bankaccounts. Same thing with catering, all
with any business. They're not gonnaalways want cag in cafe. But guess
what today I want cag cafe.Tomorrow I won't Taylor Stockos. The next
day I want dope drop, youknow. And that's okay, that's all
right, But why not give eachother that information and to help uplift each
(14:24):
other? Because guess what when Iget in the room, were all in
the room say that yes? Okay. So now I have to ask my
favorite question of this podcast, whatis being brilliantly black means to you?
So being brilliantly back to me meansbeing able to share your craft, being
excited about who you are as aperson, as a brand, and being
(14:46):
able to share that with the world. And I think for me as a
as a woman, as a blackwoman, as a business owner, being
able to show people that I lovewhat I do and having a team that
loves what they do, it's like, man, as a black woman,
I can do this regardless around.Come for I'm not even from Chicago,
I'm from Eas St. Louis.But I'm been making a difference. Yeah,
(15:07):
I'm making a change. I'm havingto make somebody else love, you
know, life better. I feellike for me, it's being just that
being yourself and loving who you are. And I think this business has shown
me that, it continues to showme that daily, and that's a beautiful
thing. That's a beautiful thing.You gotta love what you do, and
you gotta love yourself and your team. Shout out to the team again,
(15:28):
because it wouldn't be possible without this, I would be able to do this.
Okay, I can't do it bymyself, Mabe. I need a
whole team to make this happen.So yeah, yes, well, thank
you for joining me today. Andbefore we go, you have to,
of course let people know where theycan place the orders they follow you on
social media all come so Cajun CafeChicago says www dot Cajuncafe Chicago dot com.
(15:48):
That's also Cajun Cafe Chicago on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Please add us reach out to usif you have any questions. I'm
always here to answer them. Imean, just thank you guys for listening,
and I hope to see you atyour next event. Make you some
good food. Say that, okay, Well, thank you again for joining
me, chef. This has beenamazing and I'm so excited to taste the
(16:11):
food, so excited. Thank youso much. Of course, thanks for
listening to The Brilliantly Black Podcast.Produced by Jasmine Bennett and Ryan La Executive
produced by Echo Robinson and Derek Brown. If you're a black business and would
like to be featured, register yourbusiness or service now at rock ninety five
to five dot com slash brilliant.The Brilliantly Black Podcast is a production of
(16:34):
iHeartMedia, Chicago
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