A Woman of Spice and Sovereignty | Ft. Natalie Lamming

This week, we are talking di tings with entrepreneur & event curator, Natalie Lamming.

Natalie’s story is one of fearless reinvention. She has carved out a life and legacy that honors where she comes from while boldly reimagining where she’s headed. An acclaimed event curator, Natalie is the creator of iconic Caribbean fetes like Shhh and Veni Mangè, and the co-owner of Savannah Spiced and Sebastian’s Spices & Slices, a pizza shop she opened with her husband as a 10th birthday gift to their son.

This episode is about more than food or fetes, it’s about celebrating Caribbean culture, vision, legacy, and the importance of trusting your intuition.

If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to honor where you come from while building businesses and creating a legacy, this conversation is for you!

So grab your tea, coffee, or a glass of wine, and let’s talk di tings! 
.
.
.

If you enjoyed the episode, leave us a 5-star rating, share this episode, and follow Let’s Talk Di Tings on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.   

Listen to LTDT on: SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/6akOR9kAnsbANiszBDcVOL?si=aa70627937124c3eAPPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-di-tings/id1662696625 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
From the rhythmic energy of Trinidad's FETs to the aroma
of spices simmering in a Brooklyn kitchen. Natalie Lamming's story
is one of fearless reinvention. An acclaimed event curator, Natalie
is a creator of iconic Caribbean FETs like Shush, and

(00:22):
is a founder of Savannah Spice and Sebastian's Spices and Slices,
which is a pizza shop she opened with her husband
as a birthday gift to her son for his tenth birthday.
This episode is about more than food and FETs. It's
about vision, legacy, and the radical decision to listen to

(00:45):
your intuition when the world says to play it safe,
but your spirit says build something bold. Natalie shares how
she infuses culture into everything she touches, how she's teaching
her son to build not just inherit, and why entrepreneurship

(01:05):
for her has always been a calling bigger than profit.
So if you've ever wondered what it looks like to
honor where you come from while building something no one
has seen before, this episode is for you. Grab your tea, coffee,
or a glass of wine and let's.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Talk the Things.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
Hello everyone, welcome back to Let's Talk the Things, where
we discuss personal growth, travel, music, beauty and wellness while
encouraging you to live fearlessly and fabulously. I'm your host,
Ash and this week we are talking to Tings with

(01:53):
a Trinidadian entrepreneur, an event curator whose life has been
stitched with spice, spirit and bold decisions, Natalie Lamming. Hi, Natalie,
how are you? Hi?

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Good morning, good morning, good morning, I'm good.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Good. Thank you so much for coming to Talk to
Things with me. It's such a pleasure to have you.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
You're welcome. So for our first time guest and for
listeners persons that are listening for the first time, we
begin each episode with our listener's favorite segment, and it's
called that no Sound Safe. So it's basically just like
a little fun you know, icebreaker, nothing crazy sure, So

(02:42):
I'm going to read messages or social media posts that
listeners sent in and if you think it sounds crazy
or a little bit concerning, or maybe you just don't
agree with it, you would say that no sounds safe
or you don't agree, and explain why. And if you agree,
you say you agree, and then explain why gotcha makes sense?

(03:05):
All right?

Speaker 2 (03:06):
Cool?

Speaker 3 (03:07):
All right? So the first person said, I heard someone
say I won't risk the healed version of me for
the fantasy version of us, and I felt that deeply.

Speaker 4 (03:21):
Hmm, yeah, just say it again for me, because that
one is deep.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
That one is deep.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
Right, we're starting strong, Okay. So the person said, I
heard someone say I won't risk the healed version of
me for the fantasy version of us, and I felt
that deeply.

Speaker 4 (03:47):
Oh, I know, that's so tricky. There's nothing that says
I'm in the middle. I would say that not safe,
you know, like, because they're saying, like, you know, the
healed versus the fantasy, right, the thing about it in

(04:12):
life in my opinion, right, I have to say in
my opinion, right, I always tell my friends, and I
always tell my friends or my colleagues, my employees. You know,
life is a funny thing, right, I always say, this
perception of something and the reality of something, And unfortunately,
in life, the way how society is, unfortunately, sometimes the

(04:34):
perception of something beats the reality of something because sometimes
things are perceived a certain way and people believe that
first until you could actually show them hard facts.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Right.

Speaker 4 (04:48):
So even so, even sometimes in life you have to
be so careful of even the perception of things that
we're given off because I always tell my friends stuff
and take my own advice that people just run with
the perceptions, right, So absolutely, you know, and perception unfortunately wins,

(05:09):
but after that wins and everything and blah blah blah.
Reality there's nothing like the reality. It's just that unfortunately,
sometimes people don't see the reality until the last you know, yes,
it sell, it's too late sometimes.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Right, right, No, that's so true and so insightful because
you know, unfortunately, we live in a world where people
can curate what they want you to see, right, And
that's why there's that saying perception is reality. You can
see somebody and they can present themselves in a way
that makes it seem like they're so kind and they're

(05:48):
so loving and they're just such a great person. I mean,
they'll even go as far as to tell you that
they're such a great person, which, as we know, having
lived a little bit of life, the persons that say
that often usually they are and what they say, right,
especially now with you know, with social media.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
You know, when I was growing up, we didn't.

Speaker 4 (06:06):
Have social media, right, And you know, I always tell people,
you know, social media can be a gift and a curse, right, because.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
Even sometimes we say that too.

Speaker 4 (06:15):
Yeah, sometimes we see things on social media and it's
still giving a perception, and and the entire john public
is going with that perception until you show them another reality,
you know. And so even sometimes when we portray in
the fantasy side of ourselves, you know, because especially as
Caribbean people, we have this thing where we say, I

(06:38):
don't care what people say. I don't care what people
say about me, you know, I don't care what people
think about me, right, And sometimes I do tell them,
you know, sometimes you have to care. Or even if
you don't care what they say about you, sometimes you
have to care about who, right, because if it's just
the average person who just making mischief, we couldn't put

(07:00):
the money back burner, right, But it are valuable to us,
whether it's a family member of friends, somebody we do
business with, or we have to interact with. Yes, we
have to care about how they're gonna perceive us, you know,
because not only time we get the opportunity, we don't
always get the opportunity to show people the reality and

(07:22):
people exactly.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yes, you have we preaching this morning.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yeah, well that's how we talk the things over here.
We don't talk anything negative. We talk the positive things.
So we're starting off strong. No, that's amazing, amazing advice. Okay,
so the next person said, this one is hilarious. I'm
so glad I have my own money. And don't wait,

(07:47):
I'm so glad I have my own money and don't
have to be nice to men so that I can eat.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
That's not safe, that's not safe. That's all you know.

Speaker 4 (08:03):
I you know, I you know, I live in a
world where and I am not rich. I will tell peoy,
I'm not rich, right, like people assume perceive again, right,
but perception right. But the thing about it is that
I consider myself a strong woman. I consider myself being

(08:24):
with the things that I've gone through and you know,
having a sense of independence.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
Right.

Speaker 4 (08:31):
And one thing I've learned over the years that I
tell people all the time. I know it, my son crazy,
because of course we all like to be lived comfortably
with money, right, But I taught people all the time
money for me. I taught people I can have one
hundred thousand today and one hundred dollars tomorrow and zero
the next day, and ten thousand the week after and

(08:53):
so forth. Right, So I don't give money a pedestal. Right,
I don't give money a pedestal a woman. I could,
you know, nine to ten times, and most relationships I
have been in, obviously, I'm not gonna say they with breadwinner.
But I'm gonna say, maybe I would bring in more
money on that than the other person because of maybe

(09:15):
what I do.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Right.

Speaker 4 (09:18):
But sometimes you see the support I've gotten from that
other person mentally, right, it beats that money of what
they like. I tell people what that person brings to
the table, right, But that person brings to the table.
You have me going so deep this morning, it's ridiculous.
I didn't even expect it this morning. I didn't plan

(09:40):
for this. I didn't drink no coffee nothing.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Right.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
But I'll tell you, but that question you said it deep? Right,
I'll give you an example.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
Right.

Speaker 4 (09:49):
I'm married, right, and I tell my friends all the time,
I said, listen, my husband and I could separate two.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Day, right, Right.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
He will, oh as long as he wants to, regardless
if we are together or not. He will always be
a part of my business. Dealings right, because he was
there trodden in the trenches with me when it was good,
bad or ugly. And sometimes I see relationships separate and

(10:22):
were fighting over money and stuff like that. Right, But
the value that he brought to me and the let's
say in the time period we were together or we
you know, interact in our relationship, our marriage, it is
worth more than money. Right, because if your mentor is
not right, it don't matter how much money you have

(10:44):
or how much money you could pay your bills or whatever.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Because I tell people.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
All the time, it had people walking around and they
broke but they happy. And it ha people walking around
and their mortgage paid off and they're miserable, right, miserable. Yes,
I will take mental stability over just financial stability, not
saying I don't want to be okay and comfortable, but

(11:10):
of course you know, but you know, sometimes we women
is like I have money, I don't need nobody.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
That's not true.

Speaker 4 (11:16):
And when women say that they need, we need to
stop lying to ourselves because at the end of the day,
as a woman, the way how we are made, the
way we are cut out, we we we like to
have that sense of comfort to know that there's someone
in our corner who are our back because all of
us is gonna get all one day and you can
get over your money and your money and mean anything.

(11:39):
So as sorry, that's saved man, not safe.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
I don't agree with it.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
No, yes, no, that's true, but I like the way
that you broke it down and you explained it because
here's the thing. Partnership, Yes it matters, but it's who
you're partnered with that matters. Because as you spoke about
the positive elements of having a partner, that helps your
mental stability, but there's that other side of choosing a

(12:03):
partner partner that could be bringing you down and therefore
you can't get to where you need to be, you know.
So all in all, the lesson to me is, rather
than focusing on money, and I say this all the
time on this podcast, you have to focus on somebody's character.
That is what is going to raise your children if
you have any, that is what's going to be there

(12:24):
for you when times are bad. Is that person's character,
not their looks that right, or you know their popularity,
it's who they are as a person.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
So our person agree with.

Speaker 4 (12:37):
Me is what stands out and I'll tell you something again.
You have me going deep deep deep lord. You know,
I always remember something that an ex said to me
one day. Nice looking, had all the packages everything, but
he was a cheetah. Right, And we are good friends
up to this day. Right, And he said to me,

(13:00):
you know, he's happy that we are good friends. He's
so glad that our relationship ended when it did because
he felt like, seeing what I've accomplished now, he feels like,
because you know, when you're young and you get caught
up with a guy, if you pain, you put all
your energy there and you're not taking care of the
things that you have to of right. And he said,

(13:22):
with all the headaches that he was giving me, you know,
from man to woman thing, he felt like, if we
stayed in that relationship, I would not I would have
gotten distracted with you know, because I was distracted at
that time.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
Right.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
And yes, I did tell him, hell no, I would
have gotten messeduff together eventually. But I totally respected what
he said, because you know, sometimes we get so caught up,
you know what I mean, We get caught up with
such a wrong things with somebody because they've given us money,
but we don't realize that we're being dragged long at
the same time, you know, or you're not being treated

(13:58):
the way that we're being treated so much is not
The money is the root of the evil, as they
say it is, it's the root of some type of evil.
So sometimes we have to be careful when we we
put it first. It's one thing I always tell people
respect the money that they make, because of course it
takes you know, it takes care of our bills and

(14:18):
our way alife. But we should never be obsessed with
it like you know, or put to make it a
priority that's just my.

Speaker 3 (14:25):
Way exactly, or put it on a pedestal. I think
the only thing we should put on a pedestal in
any relationship is somebody's character, really, because you know, that's
what's really important. And unfortunately we just live in a
very superficial world where people just assume, whether you're a

(14:46):
male or female, if you look a certain way, or
you have certain attributes, that you're just a good person,
and it's not always true. You know, you have to
pay attention to those signs people. And also I want
to add to what you said, you can't out love
or out help somebody that's shown you that there, they

(15:07):
don't have a good character or they they're not that
person that you think, because I think a lot of
times when you are a good person, you think like, oh, well,
you know, if I just show them how much I
care about them, or if I sacrifice my dreams for them,
they'll change.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
Weird when we are young, a lot of us have
done it. They've all done it.

Speaker 3 (15:24):
I agree, yes, yes, absolutely absolutely. Okay, next person, I'm scared.
What's not so deep? Hopefully this one is not so deep.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
This is funny.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
The next person said, I don't go to Caribbean coocoats
because they're always hiding the fish from people.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
Oh god, oh god. I will have to agree it's true.

Speaker 4 (15:55):
Yes, laughing when I say that, you know, I think
that's just so old schools thing.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
You know.

Speaker 4 (16:01):
I went to any vendy other day, and it's so
funny that that. I went to any vend the other
day and I saw some containers and stuff like something.
It was like a sauce or something, and I picked
it up and I started eating it. And the whole said, Natalie,
where you get that from? So I said it.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
I said, it was over there by the table in
the corner. She said no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 4 (16:26):
That's for certain people, right. So I'm listening to her,
I'm looking at her. I'm still eating. I'm eating, right
because my next question, well, was iither certain people?

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Right?

Speaker 4 (16:38):
So I was like, well, if it was for certain people,
it shouldn't have been outside too late, right, But we
have our grandparents and our we have that thing, like,
you know, we made this kind of fishing. You know,
this is for tom they can hurry, but the rest
of Yeah, I would have degree it happens.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
It's true. It's not nice, but it's true.

Speaker 3 (16:58):
Right, It's not nice, but it's definitely true.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
That's true.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
Okay. The last one, the person said, when you are
loved at home, everything outside is extra. An addition, if
the world tries to humble you, tries to forget, tries
to make you forget how deserving you are of love,
you will remember there is love at home. This is
why someone born into love will know when they are

(17:25):
being half loved.

Speaker 2 (17:28):
Lord Father, I know, yeah.

Speaker 3 (17:33):
I think that is very true.

Speaker 4 (17:36):
You know, I'm gonna go on a limon say not safe.
I'll tell you why.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
Really, my sister.

Speaker 4 (17:43):
Told me that things would happen in the home and
she I would be in my room right singing la
la la la la, plain right when crazy things are
going on.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
Right.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
It was perfect to me, right, And she said, Natalie,
I remember this one time, and I came to find
you when you were inside singing la la la la la,
playing whatever. When she said that to me, it treats
me out. And I said to her, I said, you know,
I have this bad habit. But anybody if I feel
like you're talking nonsense to me, in my head, I say,

(18:17):
la la la la la until you finish talking, right,
I have. And it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yes. It gave me goose bumps.

Speaker 4 (18:25):
And I had to tell her like a little while after,
like I had to kind of check myself because.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
I realized that la la la.

Speaker 4 (18:33):
I use it as an adult now and I feel
like somebody's talking nonsense or somebody is carrying on with me,
and I don't want to respond the wrong way. In
my head, i'd be like la la, I say it
to myself. I give them grace to talk, but I
don't want to hear what they have to sing. But
it spoke to me, and that's what made me realize
that you have to respect everybody. Lens because she has

(18:55):
a different lens because she didn't block her stuff, and
I have a different lens because I guess I blocked
stuff in my own way.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
And this is, like I said, I'm forty seven.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
We had this competition a year ago, and I'm like,
why are we now talking about this now? Never had
this competition before, So you know, yeah, so that's why
they love that you get from home. It could be
perceived as again perception. One sibling could perceive love a
different way, another one could perceive a love another way.

(19:27):
And You're right, what the person said is right, because
I'm not gonna lie whatever love I felt at home.
I kind of came outside thinking, well, I don't really
care what any you could say, whatever you said to me,
because what is instilled in me is.

Speaker 2 (19:41):
Already instilled in me.

Speaker 4 (19:43):
But then maybe someone else, maybe my sister, may have
gotten a different love, and she may have come out
having the same one hundred percent security that I stand on.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
So very valid, yes.

Speaker 3 (19:55):
Very valid? Yes, Okay, good, Well that was fun and
very deep. Yes, So now we're gonna talk the real things. So, Natalie,
your early life in Trinidad and eventual move to Brooklyn
shape much of your entrepreneurial ambition, I would say, so,
can you take us back to the moment when the

(20:18):
idea of setting and designing spaces first called you, like
when you realize you were first intrigued to just do
something like.

Speaker 4 (20:27):
I don't know what. So this is the second time
I'm telling this story for the year, right, because I've
done many interviews, and this is the second time I'm
going to be one hundred percent transparent. I left Woman
nineteen ninety six after I think you're Jamaica and I
could hear accident.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
I don't know if I'm wrong.

Speaker 4 (20:45):
But after yes, I I left Woman nineteen ninety six,
after I finish what we will call our A level system.
I went to a very good school. I did well
in school. You know I didn't. My family wasn't poor
anything where I was running from Trinidad and hiding. And
I literally, if you asked me what I was doing

(21:08):
up here, I don't know what made me come up here,
but I came right. When I came to New York,
I didn't really understand that whole process of well, if
you come you have to work, if you have to
have papers and all these things. And I did not
know that at the time, I don't know what I
was thinking. I came up here and I said to myself,

(21:30):
I'm going to college. Well, girl asked me if I
reached the People College yet, right, I was there from
nineteen ninety six. I did not get what we call
papers until two thousand and eleven. I was working typical
jobs and stuff, regular jobs, a shoe store here, at

(21:51):
this whatever job I would get at the time, and
then I started working in a restaurant. Now because of
how I was brought up and stuff like that, And
I don't know if you could attest to this. In
the Caribbean, people look at the hospitality environment like if
you're a waitress or about end, like if you work
in some type of like a lower part, like you know,

(22:13):
that's not a.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
Big job, as we would say, right. I think that's
right through the Caribbean.

Speaker 4 (22:18):
So when I started working this job, you know, I
was just kind of like, I gotta do what I
gotta do to pay my bills.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
Right. If you ask me years ago when I was.

Speaker 4 (22:29):
Going to school, going to the People Good School, would
you ever be a waitress?

Speaker 2 (22:33):
Would you ever? I would tell you hell no.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
I came from my dad is a lawyer. My aunts
are doctors, my uncles are neurosage like, that's where I
come from, right, So I would tell you hell no. Now,
from the first time I ever stop putting in a restaurant,
I'm still in the restaurant business, right. And it's like,
if you asked me if I would have been here,
I would tell you never, never, never never.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Right now, when I started in restaurants.

Speaker 4 (23:00):
And stuff like that, what people don't understand, and it
changed my way of thinking as well, is that we
tend to look down at people who work in these environments, right.
But the reality of it is sometimes these waitresses and
these bartenders and stuff make way more money than people
who work in corporate jobs and stuff, because the tipend

(23:21):
industry is a serious industry that people don't understand, right, So,
you know, they make a lot of money. People don't know,
you know, they think that all this person is just
service in me, you know, and they beneath me. That's
how some people do look down on people in that industry.
But the reality is, if we put their dollars on
the table.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
These people bring in a lot of money.

Speaker 4 (23:44):
You know, I worked as much as I could work
and for me work in any restaurant industry and realizing,
you know, I am an educated girl, right, you know
what every restaurant I work, and I always ended up
being a manager, you know, because I would utilize one
of her skills that you know, education wise, that I could.

(24:05):
You know, I would always I would always be the
best that I could be because my mom brought me
up like that. Whether you taken all the garbage, whatever
your job is, you have to always do the best
and you must always shine.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
She always brought me up like that. So I did
that for a while.

Speaker 4 (24:20):
But I'll be honest, that whole period where I could
not go home, I used to miss home, and I
used to miss the entertainment side of home where I mean,
I'm a Trinidad and you know we like to flet
That's been our life, right, So I missed being able
to go out and being able to go to a
good show and hair in a band play live. And

(24:40):
you know, in Trinidad we have this way that we
set the ambiance and stuff like that. And you know,
back in those days in Brooklyn, you know, the parties
were just put a speaker box, somebody selling drinks and
that was the party. So you know what made me
decide to throw a party is after work and rush
runs all that time and get into new people and

(25:02):
seeing people from back home and meeting new people, right
because it's not just Trinidadian. I said I'm going to
try it, and I sold my first event I've ever
had in life, which is I don't know, maybe I
don't know. Twenty years twenty five adult, I stopped counting.
I had six hundred people. But you need to understand,
to have six hundred people back then is really six thousand, right,

(25:25):
because picture little on me.

Speaker 2 (25:27):
I'm young. You know I'm young.

Speaker 4 (25:29):
I'm literally selling tickets. Like let's say I know you,
I'd be like, listen, I having a party. I'm giving
you five tickets. Don't bring it back, bring whoever. And
that's how I sold my tickets. And if you think
about it, if I gave sixty people ten tickets, that's
how I got my people, right, And that's literally how
I built the brand. That what we see now because

(25:53):
I've never been the one to hand out flyers and
you know, do that kind of stuff. You know, even
if you look at my brand, I don't have like
a promotional name saying like, let's say Trinidadian girl, or
my brand is my name Natalie, right, I left it
like that. I didn't put a gimmick name. I never
thought of having a gimmick name, because, as you said,

(26:16):
all you're have in this will when you're coming you go,
is your name, right, And your name is supposed to
the whole world is supposed to show who you are.
And I just felt like when people see that name,
whether they like me personally or not, they know what
comes with the brand's coming with a product.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
Right.

Speaker 4 (26:33):
And also it trained me over the years because my
name is there, it holds me accountable to always put
my best foot forward because there's no hiding behind this.
Who did this event, who did this, who did that?
Or whatever the case may be, something that started off
as a what if or leari see or let's try,

(26:55):
I need to find a way to get serious and
sort this out. And that that's what made me kind
of get even more serious. And then we'll forget about college.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
Now.

Speaker 4 (27:05):
He wasn't even studying that, right, right, twenty how many
years ago? I would never think I would be in
any body's restaurant, anybody's whatever, And here I am now
how many years later, And like I tell people up
to now, like I don't even think I could work
for anybody. I will sell oranges on the side of
the street and sell my orange because that's how I've

(27:28):
kind of myself. Right road, I've been doing it for
so long. It's not been an easy road because as
a woman, you know how it is, we always have
to fight harder right to always not just get the respect, but.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
Maintain the respect, right is it?

Speaker 3 (27:45):
So?

Speaker 4 (27:47):
Yes, yes, get any respect is one thing, but maintain
and maintaining respect.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
And again we're back to perception and reality.

Speaker 4 (27:54):
And unfortunately in our industry, they only really respect you
based on what you should showing right, yes, right, sometimes
not even by a character. Yes, well you know, so
you always have a cellar across so they have no
choice to play. They have to respect you. So I
live a lot of that, right, you know. I always

(28:15):
tell people at the end of the day, I'm human,
I'm a woman. I have this strong part of me,
but I always also have the sensitive part of me.
I've grown to have thick skin over the years. You know,
somewhere along the line I had my son, and of
course mother had changes. You so a lot of things
I may have thought before my son or handle certain

(28:37):
ways before my son, is a lot different after my son,
because you know, children give you a different type of purpose.

Speaker 3 (28:44):
Right, That's what everyone says. Yeah, yes, it is true,
It's true.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
It does.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
It does give you a different sense of purpose, you know.
And you know, that's kind of like where I'm at now.
You know, I whatever I do now is not really
about me. It's really about my son and leaving a
purpose because you can leave your you can leave your
kids an insurance policy, and that's all what I'm good.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
But it's not just about that. It's about the things
you teach them along the way.

Speaker 4 (29:15):
Yes, that goes, you know, So that's kind of like
where I'm at right now.

Speaker 3 (29:20):
I love that. I love that. That's such a beautiful
story because again, perception, that seems to be the theme
unplanned this episode. But you know, one would perceive it
that you just decided to do parties out of nowhere
and you've been so successful and everything's great. A lot
of times people don't know the story behind and that's

(29:41):
a lot of the reason why I created this platform,
because I feel like in our community there's a lot
of platforms that are yes, funny and you know, laugh
and joke, but a lot of it is rooted in,
you know, maybe a little bit of negativity, a little
bit of gossip, a little bit bit of that. And
I think it's important and yeah, but I think it's

(30:03):
important to get to know, you know, the persons behind
all of these fetes and restaurants that we enjoy going to,
you know what I mean, Because we think about it,
we give our money, our hard earned money to persons
we don't know, to channel to Louis Vaton. People we
don't know, We don't know their character, we don't even
know if they like us wearing their things. We don't know,

(30:24):
you know, so why not give our hard earned money
to persons within our community and find out what they
stand for. I think it's so important.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
Yes, you know, I try.

Speaker 4 (30:35):
You know, people ask me to do interviews all the time,
and of course sometimes you know, you have to be
in mental space, right, so you know, I try to
do as many as I can, because, like I said,
we don't have a lot of women and our platform
right and our area, it's always a man either there
or a man by themselves, or if you see a
woman you see a man at his side, right exactly,
and not taking up anything about my husband because he's

(30:56):
the right there, if you know what I mean. Right,
But my husband also lets me, he lets me shine
in that Natalie world, right right. So, but what I
will say is is like the reason why I try
to do interviews like this so have I don't even
like to call him interviews, that's a conversation, is because
I know where. I know where I came from, right.

(31:17):
And even though when I started this journey, I was
I am. I was Trinity to the bone, triny inside.
Oh you can tell my blood is red, black and white, right,
But through this journey I have what I call a
Caribbean girl, right because I feel like in this journey
that I've been on and continue to be on, I

(31:37):
feel like Caribbean culture so misrepresented it and so misunderstood
sometimes right, And anything that I feel like I could
do to always portray it in a positive light. That's
why I go to the ends of the ear is
when I do my events so they could see black
excellence in our Caribbean thing. Because they always look at
us like if we're just doing roads and we don't,

(31:59):
we can't portray a good side, a partitive side. They
always you know sometimes we are so don't get me wrong.
We get our praises. Yes they know we make creature checking,
Yes they know we check and feel.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
They know this things.

Speaker 4 (32:13):
But no matter all these things, they still have us
as a culture as a whole. Because you see, sometimes
the Caribbean were so separated, right, And I always tell
people the Caribbean, I truly believe as my grandfather, he
is an author, always says he always believed the Caribbean
should be one house with different rooms.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
But we're under one umbrella. We would be such a force.

Speaker 4 (32:34):
But because we're so separated, right, So I consider myself
I represent the Caribbean. And as years go by and
I realize, like, hey, it's not just Trainy, it's a
support to my husband Grenadian.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
Right. So my grandfather lived in beij Barbados all his life.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
So it's like I started to open up my mind
to okay, not just hire the trainy artists and have
good music and the other islands. And even as somebody
who wasn't America for years with no papers and underneathdy system,
I am the underdog for those kind of people because

(33:11):
I feel like sometimes people who don't have the opportunities
in front of them, they miss out on things because
nobody gives them an opportunity. And I am where I
am today because people who don't owe me anything, who
were not family or friends or family, gave me opportunity.
So I didn't do this alone, right, somebody with somebody

(33:32):
I didn't know from scratch, didn't owe me anything, so
enlightened me and gave me an opportunity. So I believe
it should be paid forward. So I like to do
interviews like this because I want people to understand, like listen,
I'm not saying that I had nothing and I start
from the bottom and here man, because I did not write.
But I do understand, and I want people to understand,

(33:54):
like listen, you could be at this line, but please
understand you could reach that line, you know.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
And yeah, and.

Speaker 4 (34:01):
That's why I tried to always, you know, have these
conversations because as always say, there's one person over they listening. Yeah,
people don't know your story. And as you said things
that you just woke up and decided to have party. Honestly,
ash when I was trying my hand as the parties,
it was just because I was like, I'm not in college,

(34:23):
how am I going to get more money?

Speaker 2 (34:25):
Let me try a thing.

Speaker 4 (34:26):
Right, exactly right, Let me try a thing so I
could pay my bills. Let me use the things that
I have. I know a lot of people, I meet
a lot of people in Russian. Let me try a thing.
And in minute that I realized that this thing have
a ting ting ting ting, I was like I had
to check my stuff and the time to get yeah,

(34:48):
because you know, as the entertainment industry, it's a hit
and missing right. You know, if like even some people,
the corporate will don't respect from what would you say
a promoter.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
This?

Speaker 4 (35:01):
You know, I probably get a certain level of respect
because I'm not just a promoter.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
I did something and started to open.

Speaker 4 (35:08):
Your restaurants, and you know, people start to seeing you
in different lights, you know what I'm saying. So you
know it's not that easy when they are promoters around
you with not making more money than Alak. Yeah, so
that's why it is perception again. So but yeah, that
is my story.

Speaker 3 (35:24):
That's such a beautiful story. And I got chills when
you were talking about, you know, someone giving you a
chance and just women in this field because It reminds
me of a guest I had, CJ.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
Milan.

Speaker 3 (35:37):
I don't know if you're familiar with her, but she
put on Vibes, Cartels, Barclay's concerts.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
Yes, I've heard of her and.

Speaker 3 (35:45):
Yes, and you know, we're no good friends, and she's
just such a beautiful person. I remember she told me
that so many persons had been reaching out to her
for obvious reasons, you know, to get an interview, and
she declined all of them, but she wanted to do
mine because I was a woman, I was a Caribbean woman,
and I was so positive. And she didn't ask me

(36:06):
any questions. She just said she just felt something like
she just felt that.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
It was going to be good.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
Same, you know, like that just makes me feel so good.
And I don't take that responsibility or perception thinking to
staying with our themes. I don't take that lightly because
I realized that that takes a level of trust. You know,
I'm a stranger, So for you guys to trust me
as women to come here and feel safe and to
tell your story, that really means a lot to me.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
And to me, I.

Speaker 3 (36:34):
Think it's good that we're all coming together and all
having these conversations because I too would love for people
to speak about the Caribbean more positively. We have so
much to offer.

Speaker 2 (36:44):
Yes, we're so intelligent.

Speaker 3 (36:46):
I mean, we literally have so much more than track
and feel and dancing and whining and all these things.
And I mean we do those things great. Let's not
let's not take away from that. Okay, we do those
things excellently. But I think it's just so important that
people see us in a positive light, that we can
get along, we can empower each other. And I just

(37:07):
love that you said that, So yeah, thank you.

Speaker 4 (37:10):
Yes, what you listen, my grandfather's base and my grandfather
was one of the first black men to work for
BBC News, right, and you know these are his name
is George Laming, right, And you know when I was
growing up, I didn't pay attention to these things. Of course,
now you're older, right, attention, and you know, some of

(37:32):
the most educated people it's Caribbean people.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
There's Caribbean people.

Speaker 4 (37:37):
In rooms that we don't even know because sometimes they
don't scream.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
That they're Caribbean because sometimes they have to keep quiet. Right.

Speaker 4 (37:46):
It's true again, we are not respected by the others,
by the masses, so even when our Caribbean people get
in a powerful room, they can't even scream Caribbean, right.
But what people don't understand is that Caribban people are
so educated. We have beyond track and field, beyond all
those other things, beyond the chi chicken and all those

(38:07):
other things. And I just wish we would kind of
come together and stuff like that, and you know, continue
to portray us in a partici of light.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
And just to mention the lady CG. It's like, it's crazy.

Speaker 4 (38:20):
The reason why I remember her name is because all
this time I was thinking the person with the the
vibes Cartter, she was a man. And when someone said yes,
because again perception, you don't know nobody, nobody carry anything.
You see the show put on and you're just thinking
some fellas, some guy whatever. Right, And somebody was talking

(38:40):
one day and they said it by the way, and
they said, yeah, a lady name. And I said a lady,
because I'm gonna pay attention to any lady anyway.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
Anyway, I said, a lady. What's her name? They said CG? Whatever.

Speaker 4 (38:53):
I didn't remember the last but I remember the CG.
And they wouldn't notice. But to myself, I said, all right, yeah,
because I'm proud to hear these things. I want to
hear these things because here's the thing. If and it
probably doesn't matter to her, but here's the thing, it
probably have way more people thinking as a man, right,

(39:15):
but for me as a woman knowing it was a woman.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
Do you don't even know how that mean? I don't
even know what the woman.

Speaker 3 (39:23):
But it makes you feel so proud, right, hell?

Speaker 4 (39:26):
Yes, yes, hell yes, hell yes. Because they don't give
us our props. No, they don't know as they should.
And she works so hard.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
It's like you said, it's so much harder when you're
a woman in a male dominated field.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
You know how it is?

Speaker 4 (39:41):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's you know what, we don't even
need the props because as women, it's like we do
what we have to do regardless if we get a
proper Yeah, we get the prop along the way, we
get it, right. But like I tell people, I don't
do what I do because I look in for shine.
I don't want to be the popular girl. Yes I
am known because of what I do, but trust me.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
When I say I'm not looking for it, right, you
don't need When I heard a woman, I said o kids.
Then Okay, then I was mad. I really didn't go.
I was mad. I was mad.

Speaker 3 (40:13):
But you still have a chance because she's putting on
a concert Labor Day weekend with like and all these
other different artists. So yeah, you should definitely still yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 2 (40:25):
But yes, and I would love to meet her. Yes, yes,
I love that. I love that.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
Okay, So talking about your parties, I love the names
of them. I saw there's one called and there's one
called Anny Man Men Magie.

Speaker 4 (40:42):
Okay, can you tell us a little bit about those
parties and you know they came about about So shush
is that's one of my babies. It's actually it's probably
sixteen years old. It's probably supposed to be seventeen, but COVID,
you know, life was like, so it's existing sixteen years.

(41:03):
It's Memorial Day every year in New York City. Last
day we ventured out for the first time. We did
a Saint Lucia's Shush. We did a Grenader Shush this year.
This year we did a Trinidad Shush. We just completed
Saint Lucia's Shush, which was amazing and in two weeks.
Because I'm in Grenada right now I have the Grenada,

(41:26):
the second version of Grenader Shush, which is going to
be even more amazing. I mean, it's it's crted to
be one of the most anticipated events on the island
for Spice.

Speaker 2 (41:36):
Mass So Shush is like my baby.

Speaker 4 (41:39):
It started off as a it's a secret Brooklyn's best
kept secret. It's clearly no longer a secret secret, but
it's my baby. And it was also that particular event
where I got to showcase artists, right because I really
don't add the others, but it was a platform where

(42:00):
the artists would be able to come and perform at
live bands and stuff like that. Really, Mug is a
project that I'm still working on, and I didn't necessarily
want it to be just a party. I really imagine
it means come, let's eat, right, come, let's eat. Okay,
So I was trying to create a platform where not

(42:24):
just a party, but people can It's something like the
pop up dinner in Prospect Park where people come and
they sit down. They were all white, like Dinna Lablac.
I don't know if you ever heard of those events. Yes, right, ready,
come and they decorate their table. We were all white
and eat. The only difference I was trying to do
was I was trying to use this as an opportunity

(42:47):
to showcase vendors, food vendors, not just restaurants, but the
tantes that cook at home who don't have brick and motors,
and showcase vendors. So you would come and the food
will be provided, a drinks to be provided, and I
get to showcase all the small businesses.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
So it's in the second year I'm working on it.
And then I do an event.

Speaker 4 (43:09):
Called Chic, which is pretty formal New Year's Day Black excellence.
Everyone is dressed to the eyes everyone. That's unlike my
kind of party. Yeah, yes, you have to listen. It's
in the day. It's like from twelve to eight, so
you have time to do New Year's Eve, but your
family it's New Year's Day. It's full ballroom style, but

(43:32):
it's it's affect in the people ballroom. But everybody is
in a gown, in a suit in everything.

Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yes, I love that.

Speaker 4 (43:45):
But my husband is Grenadia and so we get a
lot of support from the locals as well. It's hard
to be super big this year, probably over a thousand,
we're probably gonna get there.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
I love that's my next project, Grenada I absolutely love.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
Right.

Speaker 3 (44:02):
So, speaking of Grenada and your husband's Grenadian heritage, I
also saw that you have a restaurant called Savannah Spice
that reflects both your Trinidadian roots and your husband's Grenadian heritage. Correct. So, however,
evolving those traditions together in your menu and your identity
really as an entrepreneur.

Speaker 4 (44:23):
So before I met my husband, my restaurant was called Savannah.
And you know, like I told you, my husband has
always been supportive of everything that I do.

Speaker 2 (44:34):
He has been in the industry himself.

Speaker 4 (44:36):
So when we got married, I decided to intertwine it
because I feel like he deserves it too, and I
celebrate my culture and I became a part of his own.
But that's how Savannah Spice came along, because Grenada is
the island of Spice. So, right, we intertwinedy menus where
we serve traditional food, we still we do everything that

(44:57):
represents Trinidad and Grenadian culture, from and traditional oil down.
We have drinks named after local things in Grenada and Trinidad,
and the blend has been really, really, really nice. And
what I love about it because like in New York,
I don't feel like they had, like the Grenader culture
had a lot of dining in places that represents their culture.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
They have like smaller of the mom and pop, you know,
kind of fast from things.

Speaker 4 (45:22):
So I felt like, you know, people are very patriotic
and like to see their flag flown.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
So it was a great I really felt good about Adan.

Speaker 4 (45:32):
And I'll be honest with you, like, since I started
coming to Grenader years ago, I did fall in love
with Grenader naturally. I naturally did, so it was actually
an easy blend. And you know, we, like I said,
I support all cultures. I support all Caribbean islands. I'm
a Caribbean girl, you know.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
But you know we do.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
We do promote Grenada and Tuni culture together because I
guess he is in the hospitality how many hospital and
we tell the story basically tell the story about a
guy from Greens and a girlfriend, a girl from Triny
who fell in love over food and drink, which is true.
So that's kind of like.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
My dream love story, you know, like falling in love
over food because me love my belly.

Speaker 2 (46:18):
I love food me too, I love my belly.

Speaker 4 (46:21):
But he's a mixologist by trade, right, so you know
it is true. It really was a guy from Greens
and a girl from Triny who fell in love over
food and drinks and the love.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
For food and drinks and we were able to blend it.

Speaker 3 (46:33):
So yeah, I love that. That's such a beautiful story.
No man, somebody wants to call Oprah and get a
little show going on.

Speaker 2 (46:40):
I know, right, because.

Speaker 3 (46:44):
That sounds like a beautiful love story. I love that.
Love that.

Speaker 2 (46:49):
And then I don't know if you know we have
a pizza shop.

Speaker 3 (46:52):
I was just about you read you're reading my notes,
you know, sorry, but I was just about to say
you are. I also have Sebastians choices and slices, which
I think, yes, such so brilliant the story behind it.
And it's a pizza shop named for your son who
fell in love with pizza by the age of three.

(47:12):
So can you tell us more about that? That's so cool.

Speaker 4 (47:15):
So when my son was born, you know, I didn't
know I was I'd never planned parenthood, so it dropped
on me. And I always tell people my child was
supposed to be here, right, he was gift. This was
my gift from God. So of course I used to
spoil him rotten. So every year he would have these
extravagant birthday parties until I realized he didn't care.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
The parties was more for me, right as usual, you know,
it was more for me.

Speaker 4 (47:41):
And then also because of our lifestyle, he's always a
wrong entertainment. He practically lives in the restaurant. I spent
my entire pregnancy in the restaurant, had my child, and
was back there in three four days, So he lives
in the restaurant industry. And once I recognized that he
really wasn't into these struggling and parties that I was

(48:01):
being ridiculous about, that was clearly for me.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
I said to him.

Speaker 4 (48:06):
I was like, listen, you know, my child wants his
own money in his head, right, So I'll be like,
you know what, We're going to open up business one day.
And I was just rambling stuff like we'll open up
business one day, You're gonna have your own And it
just so happened that year, right before his birthday, my
broker call and said, Natalie, I have a spot. And
I always tell her what you calling me for and
bothered me. I don't want nothing else right, right, And

(48:28):
then when she told me, you know, Nannie, come on,
it is a good spot. The rent is not bad.
And I sat and I thought about it. He wasn't here,
he was on vacation any time, I said, I said
to my husband, you know what, we're going to do
this business for Sebastia.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
We're going to surprise him. Right, my husband said.

Speaker 4 (48:44):
Because he thinks I'm crazy, do you what are we selling?
I said, well, what is his favorite food?

Speaker 2 (48:50):
Pizza? Right?

Speaker 4 (48:51):
Right?

Speaker 2 (48:51):
Right? Pizza? Are we going with this? Right? So what
I did?

Speaker 4 (48:55):
I decided that the same ten to twelve thousand dollars
that I would spend in the party, which I trust me,
I never used to know in the beginning until the
bill come at the end, right, but the same ten
twelve thousand dollars that I would spend on the party.
I took that and I got the least for the space.
I acquired the least a ten year lease for the space. Right,

(49:17):
I took my son. I surprised him. The place was
in total. It was needed to be demo. I told him,
a Sebastian, this is going to be our project. We
open a piece of show no birth, they give this.

Speaker 2 (49:28):
Say, this is it.

Speaker 4 (49:30):
I explained to him that, okay, I cannot put your
least near name on the lease right now. But when
you turn sixteen, going on to seventeen, I could add
you onto the lease. I could add you onto the cooperation.
When you turn a certain age, I can pay you
a check. In the meantime, we got to bank a
little money every week, even if it have twenty dollars them.
We got a banket. We got to bank it. And

(49:52):
of course he was like, yes, in his head, he
getting money. So I told him, I said, listen, I'm
trying to create a space for you, because if you're eleven,
going on twelve, or whatever the case may be, ten
years from now, you're going to be an adult, and
maybe you may not want this piece of shop. You
might want a barbershop. But here's what you do. Have
to beg nobody for no lease. You have a lease.

(50:12):
And the way that I acquired the lease, I acquired
the lise at a cheap rent. So even you know
the cost of New York rant, right, so even in
the year whatever whatever, your rent will be stabilized at
this And if you want to open a barbershop, a
sneaker store, whatever. If I'm not here and you need
somewhere to live, you come live in this week, right,

(50:34):
but at the only day I and that's what we did.
And we went through the whole model. We picked the logo,
he picked the colors I didn't. I included him in
everything from design in the store where he wants that,
you know, even though he told me I like to
put oxtale on everything, you know, he was like, make

(50:55):
sure you have you know, we went through everything. Like
I tell people, he's a kid, right, So I do
as much as I could do with him within the
capability of him understanding.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
You know.

Speaker 4 (51:08):
I you know, he's not there every day. Sometimes he
comes there, he does his homework there, his tutor meets
him there. I teach him health department laws because he said, mom,
I don't want any rats in my place.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
He tells me.

Speaker 4 (51:24):
The one thing that he did, the one thing that
he did stipulate that is a protocol of us. Our
pizza shop is not a shop where you come in
and see the pizza sitting in the glass. Right, Because
when he was younger and we used to go buy
pizza and he'd be like, Mommy, but how long that pizza? Therefore, right,
I don't know how long that you know these kids, right,
I don't know how long the pizza there for I

(51:46):
need them to make my pizza fresh. And one of
the things that he kept was your pizzas customize every slice.

Speaker 2 (51:53):
Every pie is made from scrap. There's nothing sitting in.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
The window because he is like mom, the fly will
get it. No flies my sons, you know, and really
and truly, like I tell people, I may not make
millions from this shop, right, but one thing I know
for sure is I will have memories and there will
be situations where we would learn things like even it
took us forever to build the shop because there was

(52:18):
a fire upstairs. And these are the things that I
used to show him. These EXHEBASTIONI these are obstacles. When
you hear me quarreling and inside with somebody, this is
what I'm quarreling for. This is why because somebody trying
to think or you know, so really and truly, like
I tell people, who knows, because businesses are risk, right,
I may not even make the kind of money that
I want to make.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
But here's the thing.

Speaker 4 (52:40):
My child will have an experience, right, the good, the bad,
and the ugly, right, And that's what it really is
for me. You know what I'm saying, And like I
said to someone last night, I said, listen, I grew
up where my mom gave me everything. I think she
could have possibly give me everything she could have. She

(53:02):
gave me what she couldn't give me she didn't have
to give me. So I am going to give my
son everything I could.

Speaker 3 (53:09):
Right.

Speaker 4 (53:10):
Doesn't mean he can't get snatched every now and then, right, right,
because we're not, you know, we spoiling, but we're still
spoiling within an.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
Arrange, right reason. Right.

Speaker 4 (53:19):
I give my child whatever I could give him, and
at the same time still train him to pay it forward,
to understand that sometimes if I say no respect and
no because my child is a different child. If my
child sees a homeless person on the street and the
person asked me for money and I give them five dollars,

(53:41):
my child go, that's all that's my card. And I'd
be like, but that is all I have, and he'd
be like, but no, you couldn't give them twenty you
had look the ATM there, that's my child.

Speaker 3 (53:55):
So beautiful though, because children these I like that, they're
very self feeling usually, so that's so beautiful to hear.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
Yes, and he's a kid he's a kid. Don't get
me wrong.

Speaker 4 (54:05):
He wants he wants all the toys, all the roadblocks,
he wants anything.

Speaker 2 (54:09):
But when I see when when he checks me on.

Speaker 4 (54:12):
Those things, that's really my son. My son checks me right.
My son keeps me account. But my son sometimes has one.
I could be having an argument with my.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Mom and he will go, Mom, why you gotta yell
at Nana? You know she's all right? And you know
how that makes me feel When he says, I be like, oh,
do you want to just evaporate? Oh gosh, evaporates.

Speaker 4 (54:35):
But you know what happens the next time my mom
pissed me off, checked my tot.

Speaker 2 (54:41):
I think about it.

Speaker 4 (54:42):
So my son is a kid, right, But my son
is a has a purpose just like I.

Speaker 2 (54:48):
So I believe my purpose. He keeps me, He keeps.

Speaker 4 (54:51):
Me in line, He keeps me like, Mom, you don't
have to yell. You don't have to do you know,
he's the one. Why are you getting frustrated? If he
hears me, you know on the phone, somebody pissed me
off a business like mom, just hang up, hang up,
And I'd be like, don't tell me what to do.
But you know, step from today, you know what I mean.

(55:13):
But I just want to do things for my kids.
I have a step daughter to my my My husband
has a daughter and you know, she just she's about
to go into college.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
She's gonna study biology.

Speaker 4 (55:25):
And I just want to be able to know because
after we do everything what we're doing first, you know
what I mean exactly, you know. So I really about
my children. That's really what it is.

Speaker 3 (55:37):
I love that, and that's so important because I tell
people all the time, I don't remember half the things
my parents bought me as a child, but I remember
who they were as people. I remember the character, I
remember how they treated people, and that's what sticks with
with children. So you're doing the right things. That's really beautiful.

Speaker 2 (55:56):
And that's all we could do.

Speaker 4 (55:57):
So, you know, I just try to tell him, like
I just try to say, listen, I don't want you
asking nobody for anything.

Speaker 2 (56:05):
I want you to be able to get up and
get right.

Speaker 4 (56:09):
If I tell you I don't have it, best believe
no I don't have it, because you know I will
give you ninety nine times. So the one time I
don't have it, and I love it because he will
go no mine. He nagged me a hundred times when
I say I don't have it badhi, he goes, okay, Mom,
all right, oh, okay, okay mom, even though he will
hit me once in a while and go, mom, I

(56:29):
saw the pizza shop was busy yesterday. You know, you
think I could get that roebox now, and I'll be like,
I'll be that easy.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
Listen. I'd be like, listen, don't have to pay, right.
But what I love about the pizza shop is I
see my son standing taller. Here's why.

Speaker 4 (56:51):
Because of the pizza shop. He himself had done interviews, right, Yes,
so just within this year. Yes, one thing I know
is gonna come up. Might be shy, he might be this,
but every time he does another interview, I see a
different child.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
So at least I know.

Speaker 4 (57:07):
He's learning things like, you know, how to this twitcher
and to speak in front of people or see themselves
on TV.

Speaker 2 (57:13):
So I see I see him standing a little bit taller.
You know. I just like what I see.

Speaker 4 (57:20):
And when I see like it's a little too much
for him, I pull back a little bit.

Speaker 2 (57:23):
Okay, that's what. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (57:27):
Definitely I'll pull back a little bit because sometimes we
do get a lot of media with the pizza shop.
But sometimes it's been a little too much, and sometimes
eyes have to screaming media too. You know, sometimes broggers
want to come by, but I want to see. I
need to see what you represent because let me tell you,
I can have music playing in the store and re

(57:50):
playing videos and you know it's just a regular video
and you know, you know, people whining and he goes, mom,
you know, kids come in here, right, they're talking, they're working.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
I'd be like so or he would say, please place,
and it's really eric right, you know what. Okay, I
got it.

Speaker 4 (58:09):
So it's like, like I said, it's a body lesson.

Speaker 2 (58:12):
Yeas for me too.

Speaker 3 (58:14):
Yes, yes, that shows he has good bratopsy. That's my
favorite word. And I love that. Yes, I want to
bring back that old people were because I love it
so much. The kids don't kids don't really have it
these days. It's true, kids don't know it. So I
love hearing stories, love it.

Speaker 2 (58:35):
Love it.

Speaker 3 (58:36):
Sure when me and Sebastian have a Latin common because
I grew up loving pizza. I used to literally eat
like a whole box of pizza by myself, and nobody
would believe me because I'm so small, but I love pizza.
So next time I'm in New York, I have to come.

Speaker 2 (58:52):
You have to, you have to.

Speaker 4 (58:55):
It's so it's so good, Like I tell people, even
if one person come in the store today, it's a
brand that I would five.

Speaker 2 (59:02):
Four because it really is.

Speaker 3 (59:04):
Oh gosh, yes, try it, Dee. So our last segment,
I'm going to ask you a few rapid fire questions
and you have to answer with the first thing that
comes to mind. Don't worry. You made it through that
assauld safe. But this is very rapid. Just one quick answer, right,

(59:28):
all right, cool, all right? So your what is your
favorite trainy comfort food now? And what was your favorite
triny comfort food when you were a child.

Speaker 2 (59:42):
My favorite comfort food when I was a child was KFC.

Speaker 3 (59:47):
Really No, I've heard it's Jamaica, you know, and I
haven't tried it.

Speaker 2 (59:52):
I need were number one. We number one, we need
to try it. Number one. I'm gonna make it.

Speaker 4 (59:58):
But number one, number two, luc number three. I know
I heard Jamaica's, but back when I was younger, KFC, KFC.

Speaker 2 (01:00:09):
Now cold good could routie, Yes, I must have when
I go home.

Speaker 3 (01:00:17):
Yes, okay, okay, love that love that.

Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
But I'm very greedy, so let's have a long list.

Speaker 3 (01:00:22):
But I have to you and me both. I told
you I love my belly, so trust.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
Me, I get it. Yes, yes, okay.

Speaker 3 (01:00:31):
Who would you say? Is your This is probably gonna
be hard for you to say, but is your current
top three favorite Grenadian artists?

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
Top three? Yeah? This is honest and no particular order, right, boise.

Speaker 3 (01:00:54):
Okay, terror, Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:01:01):
I have a special thing for a guy named Slaughter.
I don't know if you ever heard of him, but
if you hear his music when you get a chance,
and if I can current one more just for the
love of it, I would say, Nati and thunder Ah, okay, nice?

Speaker 2 (01:01:20):
Nice? Three to four? Yes, got you? Got you? Okay?

Speaker 3 (01:01:25):
What is a scent or a flavor that transports you home?

Speaker 2 (01:01:36):
H h.

Speaker 4 (01:01:39):
I would say, I don't know, maybe like when you're cooking,
like calor and stuff like stuff like that, like.

Speaker 2 (01:01:47):
Dumpling. Yes, yes, nice. I'm very greedy, Okay, I know,
I'm very, very horrible.

Speaker 3 (01:01:54):
It's ridiculous with listen, this is a safe space for greediness.

Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
Okay. I would just.

Speaker 3 (01:02:01):
I completely understand. What is a hm hmm, maybe like
a lesson? Or a quote that you find yourself repeating
to your son that was said to you by your parents.

Speaker 4 (01:02:19):
My mother used to tell me, don't let anybody write
a script for you, that is even with what is
your motives of oparandi for the day.

Speaker 2 (01:02:29):
My poor child probably doesn't know what the hell I'm
talking about, but operandi for the day, right, what you're
doing for the day.

Speaker 4 (01:02:38):
But but my main thing is, don't let anybody write
your script for you. Followed by your friends will carry it,
but they won't bring you.

Speaker 3 (01:02:49):
Hey for that one classic.

Speaker 2 (01:02:54):
Your friends will carry but it won't.

Speaker 3 (01:02:58):
Yes, I that Oh my gosh, poor Sebastian, he'll appreciate
it when he gets older.

Speaker 2 (01:03:05):
You think I'm crazy, These things don't make sense.

Speaker 3 (01:03:08):
He'd be like what, Oh my gosh, oh gosh, She'll
be like us laughing about it when he gets older. Yes, yes, okay,
two more questions. What is a festival or an event
from your teenage days that you'll always remember, maybe just
your your young adult days.

Speaker 2 (01:03:30):
I miss I don't know. I would say I miss
from Trinida. I didn't want to say from anywhere. Yeah,
it could be Trinidad, from anywhere.

Speaker 4 (01:03:40):
Yeah, I missed the traditional sokamanach that we used to
have on Friday that we no longer have anymore.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
But he stadium will be pack out and nothing moving
that day. We don't have it anymore.

Speaker 4 (01:03:55):
And it's sad because Grenada and Saint Vincent and all
these other islands don't play with They're so coming up
and we who supported to be in Mecca.

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
I even know they had it this year.

Speaker 3 (01:04:07):
Yeah, oh wow, that's sad.

Speaker 2 (01:04:09):
Yeah, yeah, it is.

Speaker 3 (01:04:10):
It is okay, okay, that makes sense. And the final question,
you know, I have to throw a deep one in there.
So if you could sit with the younger version of yourself,
that little girl beginning to dream in Trinidad, unaware of
all the magic that you would create one day, what

(01:04:32):
would you thank her for? And what would you tell
her now knowing that everything you've carried and built and
become has come to fruition?

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
Oh god, what I would thank her for? So I
think that.

Speaker 4 (01:04:53):
One thing I always prided myself was always being able
to block out the outside noise and staying true to
who I am and still venturing and taking risks and
doing what I have to do without the outside no
It's distracted me. If if I look back, I wish

(01:05:15):
I had learned temperace who I was a little bit faster,
and learned to speak more of my truth because as
a woman, I felt like sometimes i've you know, I
just kind of stay quiet and would wait until.

Speaker 2 (01:05:29):
Things kind of festered over on my back against the wall.

Speaker 4 (01:05:32):
And I have learned over the years that it is
so important to speak your truth from the get go
so people would know where you stand in business, you know.
But I always kind of like commend myself because I said,
at the end of the day, everything I have done
and every decision that I have made, never had any
malicious intented or towards people. Sometimes it may be perceived

(01:05:56):
that way sometimes when you make any decisions through your business,
you know, but I've never made any decision with any
malicious intent or you know what I mean, like to
sabotage anybody's business. I've always made Sean stayed within the
character of how my mom brought me up, which is,
you know, always try to be fair, be kind, be humble,

(01:06:17):
because even though people may not think so, because people
perceive you one way, but that's really who I am.

Speaker 2 (01:06:23):
I'm a very simple person. Very simple people make me
more complicated than you are. Yeah, yes, I love that.

Speaker 3 (01:06:31):
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Okay, Well, for our last segment,
I usually do my thank you and I've been asking
people not to cry because you're not gonna you guys
are gonna come here and make me cry on this episode,
but it's kind of my thing. So, Natalie, from the

(01:06:52):
creative pulses of the fats that you've brought us to
the soul of Caribbean cooking, your life, to me, is
a vivid testament to the power of culture, courage, and
careful craft. I think that you haven't just created FETs
or simply opened restaurants. You've built bridges between islands, between generations,

(01:07:17):
and between dreams and reality. I think that your entrepreneurial
spirit shines not only in what you create, but in
who you've raised. You've raised a son who, at age ten,
has inherited a business and a legacy of possibility. And
to me, that gesture alone shows how intent and imagination

(01:07:37):
can become inheritance. And your story reminds us that legacy
isn't written in bricks or crowns. It's written in choices, values,
in characters. We talked about and the freedom to bring
one's full self to the table. So thank you for
sharing your journey so generously and your life and all

(01:07:58):
that you've poured into this world. World deeply matters. So
thanks for coming to talk the things with me.

Speaker 2 (01:08:06):
Girl.

Speaker 4 (01:08:07):
I listen, I would address up for this if I
know it was going.

Speaker 2 (01:08:10):
To be all this. Because I listen.

Speaker 4 (01:08:13):
You have me like, yeah, I just want to say that,
you know, I appreciate having this conversation with you. Sometimes,
you know, again perceive people don't know where your mental is,
and sometimes it's conversations like this. It's remind me who
I am, where I came from, and where I go
in because very rarely we get to speak these things out.

Speaker 2 (01:08:36):
Loud Lee, So.

Speaker 4 (01:08:40):
You know, and I didn't even know if I was
any frame of mind to do an interview this morning,
but you know, your spirits is a guide you, right,
And I'm like.

Speaker 2 (01:08:46):
Okay, you can't put it off.

Speaker 4 (01:08:48):
You know, you gave your word because that's important to me,
and then I could sincerely say that I could come
off this conversation and feel good, right because to get.

Speaker 2 (01:08:59):
More I'm sorry, I'm sorry because I had no idea
where we were going, right, like I said, I dows
all the time.

Speaker 4 (01:09:06):
And even when I come up to them, I always
appreciate it because not people don't have to give you
a voice, right, a platform to speak right. So but
then there are times that I do get to have
a conversation and I don't feel like I'm having like
a robotic conversation like Okay, what's your name?

Speaker 2 (01:09:22):
What is do?

Speaker 4 (01:09:23):
I feel like I get to have a conversation where
I could come up before and I'd be like, Ash,
don't forget you come and you come and grenad lemon
and they're coming because they're gonna come to party.

Speaker 2 (01:09:32):
I gotta meet you in person and stuff like that.

Speaker 4 (01:09:35):
And I appreciate that you have this platform that you
could give not just women, but men or just people
of the culture, a platform where we could speak even
if listen, even if nobody hears this podcast. I am
so happy we had this conversation.

Speaker 2 (01:09:52):
Yes too, Yash, I'm.

Speaker 3 (01:09:54):
Telling you not to cry, and look, I'm sorry, Nash,
right down to the girl.

Speaker 2 (01:09:58):
I'm sorry. Sorry.

Speaker 3 (01:10:00):
That means a lot to me, honestly, it really does.
And just love to just be that reminder for persons
like you that you know, if you weren't born, or
if you didn't pursue your dreams, a lot of us
wouldn't be able to have a great time, you know,
so thank you for that.

Speaker 2 (01:10:15):
We'll call me.

Speaker 4 (01:10:16):
Any time when you have things where you need voices
and anything.

Speaker 2 (01:10:20):
I'm always willing to work alongside people.

Speaker 4 (01:10:22):
I'm open, I'm here, and I'm always ready to talk
to things. My friend and I would that I talk
to things or I'll be looking for things.

Speaker 2 (01:10:32):
So I thank you so much