{ WOMAN WHO INSPIRES { SHIFT+CONTROL } } “My specialty at “People’s Choice is my jerk chicken; however, my restaurant is known for our famous “Jerk Chicken Salad, it also allows you to be bad and eat healthy at the same time.”
What is one thing that you feel defines success? Success for me is knowing God is in the mix and allowing others to see and witness the same joy so they too can pass it forward to someone else. Success for me and my fiancé was to build a strong foundation for our son by leaving him a legacy. But it was also breaking strong generational holds by passing on health and wealth to the next generation to follow.
confidently transition the business to him. As far as franchising goes, I have mentioned it to my sister in Florida for many years. I would definitely continue to entertain those thoughts. Do you think being a minority has helped or hindered you in business? Being a minority business owner definitely has not hindered me all. I have
Tell us about “Soccer Sam Fantauzzo” and how you were able to get your sauces into Rochester’s famous Salvatore’s Old Fashioned Pizzeria’s. I thank God, and I’m grateful for Soccer Sam listening to Bob Lonsberry live talk radio show. Once he heard Bob mention how excellent our famous jerk sauce taste on Bob’s show; Soccer Sam reached out to me and indicated that he strongly believed my jerk sauce would be great at his Salvatore Pizzeria’s, which brought music to my ears. I am so glad he was tuned into Bob’s show that day to hear about People’s Choice Kitchen. The rest is history! Where do you see your business 5 and 10 years from now? Any plans to franchise? My 5-year plan consists of me opening another restaurant on the East side of the city where I was born and raised. I would also love to add more stores to carry my jerk sauces. My 10-year plan is to successfully train my son for the full operation so that I can
offer to pay their bill or tell them to pick out more items so I could pay for them; the look on their faces is priceless. What is one piece of advice you have been giving that has helped shape who you are? I received a lot of advice from my mother. We have a very close and strong bond together. I cherish all of her strong values and most importantly, her advice to us to always put God first and he will lead me down the right path. What would be one word to describe you? If I had one word to choose to describe myself; it would be “compassionate.” I truly love to encourage and see others happy.
successfully operated my restaurant for 20 years in the inner city. My clientele comes from all types of backgrounds and we treat them all the same. What is one thing you have done that not many people know about you? I enjoy going into the malls to see who I could randomly bless that day. I generally look for teenagers that I would
Has the pandemic helped or hindered your business? How have you had to pivot to keep business going? Like so many other businesses and especially restaurants, we took a hard hit too. We are still feeling the pandemic’s impact, but we are so grateful we did not lose any family members or customers to Covid-19. We are thankful for our loyal customers continuing to support my business and helping us keep the doors open so we can also bless others to pay what they can afford. What would be one bit of advice you would give to young women wanting to start their own restaurant business? CENTRAL NY WOMAN ONLINE :: MARCH/APRIL EDITION 2021
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