Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabrielle Jenkins.
Hi Gabrielle, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
At the age of nine, my mother finally allowed me to cook on my own without her supervision. It was a Saturday morning and I cooked pancakes from scratch with my sister. At that moment, something just hit me – I had found my God-given gift. My passion for cooking was matched by a strong passion for art, and I knew that I would eventually find a way to intertwine the two.
I have actively pursued culinary arts for the last twenty years. I would cook and take baked goods to high school for my peers at their request. I was also taking every culinary and art-related class that I could, and excelling, another hint to me that my passion for culinary arts was profound. In one of these classes, a recruiter from Johnson and Wales University came to talk to us about the school, and I knew it was the right fit for me to further my education within the field. From 2010-2014, I attended Johnson and Wales University graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts Food Service Management. Since graduating I’ve explored various roles in the field. Management and entrepreneurship have been the most enjoyable, and yet they have also been the most taxing, humbling, and mentally challenging commitment of them all. I say that to carry the title of entrepreneur, you have to be prepared to feel every emotion there is to feel!
At the end of the day, though, it’s exactly what I want! After working in hotels, country clubs, chain restaurants, etc., I find that my creativity and vision thrive best as an entrepreneur. Throughout my journey, there have been so many hints that entrepreneurship fulfills me most, and I want to succeed at it, and I will!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I wouldn’t call it a smooth road – there have definitely been bumps along the way! It was challenging working for businesses other than my own – I was always wondering, “where does my creativity fit in here?” I had to consistently encourage and remind myself that the position or business was not my end goal. Knowing that there was something more for me, and that God would provide that in due time helped me stay in the right mindset.
As I mentioned previously, you feel everything – every emotion! I’ve cried happy and sad tears over my business, Pot Liqueur. I’ve thought about giving it up on multiple occasions when it was slow and I had bills, or when interest in my services declined. But no matter how ready I was to give up and “find a new dream”, the passion and purpose placed inside of me would not let me. I believe God needs our participation, he needs us to start executing the vision so that he has something to add to with more blessings.
Although the road has been tough, I’ve learned so much, and I’m so proud of myself! I’ve been a marketing team, assistant, accountant, and just about everything else you could think of at some point for my business. I have amazing clients, friends, associates, family near and far, who have been genuinely rooting for me for years and who truly believe in me and my vision. I am grateful for them because they believed in me even when they couldn’t see my vision clearly.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My business is Pot Liqueur, where I provide meal prep, personal/private chef services, and catering primarily in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area.
The name alone sets my business apart. I came up with it in a college class discussing African American history. We talked about how slaves knew that the broth from collard greens, known as “pot likker,” was full of nutrients like Iron and Vitamin C. However, the master requested only the greens, the leaves. Slaves took that knowledge and kept it as nourishment for themselves. When all you have to survive on is scraps, and you come across hidden gems like this, you keep that sacred. In the same thought, I think of my business, Pot Liqueur, as sacred to me. Cooking is sacred to me. Art is sacred to me. My ancestors are sacred to me, and I am a product of the fight they fought. So, I pay homage to them in this way. I also don’t forget my personal journey and changed “likker” to “liqueur” in honoring my education in the culinary field which had a lot of French influence. I’ve been very intentional about my business, my endeavors, and I’m protective over it.
My food is rooted in primal cooking techniques combined with modern ideas and the soul of my ancestors. The results are a combination of detailed plating and vibrant flavors, based on classic ideas and recipes. At all events the food prepared comes from the soul inspired by the past and present, uplifting the spirits of many with a farm-to-table essence! The road I’ve taken and my life’s journey are my own and it’s another reason that my way of cooking sets me apart. With my menus, I combine my intuition, client requests, and the knowledge I have acquired to develop flavor combinations. The clientele that I have knows that I have dishes they can’t get anywhere else. Some of the items I provide are standard in name, but no one else is cooking them as I do.
What does success mean to you?
It’s not society or social media’s thoughts and opinions of success in every way for sure. For me, it’s about setting my personal and business goals and attaining them without the approval of everyone else. For me, it’s very internal process and requires self-discipline, self-respect, self-awareness, and self-growth.
Success is learning to rid yourself of doubt and fear and then doing what you know you can even amidst trials. I am purposeful about how I listen to external voices so that I am not deterred from my goals and reaching certain levels of success. I found once I stayed focused and wrote down my goals monthly I saw a change in my success. I saw clarity on what I wanted to achieve and I actively worked towards it. I’m constantly on my way to success as we learn something new every day, meaning we might always find new goals and dreams that have to be fulfilled.
Contact Info:
- Email: Potliqueur@gmail.com
- Website: Www.potliqueur.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefgabbyjay
Image Credits
Gabrielle Jenkins, Monique Jenkins, and Good Morning Washington
