Cooking From the Soul: LaQuisha Jackson on Soulful Kitchen, Food Insecurity, and Training Chefs

How does a South Bend cook with no business background become an award-winning caterer, nonprofit founder, and culinary educator? In this episode of Rooted & Reaching, LaQuisha Jackson, Founder and CEO of Soulful Kitchen, tells the story. She learned to cook at nine years old in her grandmother's kitchen. She then spent 16 years feeding the elderly at a retirement home, where she worked her way up from server to management. When that job ended in 2017, she turned a lifelong gift into a catering business rooted in Southern cuisine. LaQuisha explains how the Spark program for women entrepreneurs at Saint Mary's taught her the language of business. She describes why her first plan, a downtown restaurant selling dinners, gave way to catering, and how cooking classes and social media reels led her to launch a culinary school. The school offers an industry-level fundamental cook certification to people 14 and older, including high school students and people from underserved communities. She also shares how the COVID-19 pandemic pushed her to found Hope for the Hungry, a nonprofit that feeds families facing food insecurity and helps people work toward self-sufficiency. This conversation is about more than food. LaQuisha talks about growing up in poverty, the bias she faced as a chef of Southern cuisine, why community and compassion shape every event she caters, and how she lends equipment and advice to the entrepreneurs coming up behind her. Whether you are a small business owner, a food entrepreneur, or a community builder in Michiana, her advice is practical and hard-earned: believe in yourself, use your gift, and get your numbers right. Key Takeaways: ● A setback can start something new. After losing her job of 16 years in 2017, LaQuisha searched for how to start a small food business. That search became Soulful Kitchen. ● You can learn business without a business background. LaQuisha came from poverty, and the Spark program felt like a new language to her. She struggled through it and still calls herself "still in love with Spark." ● Let the work tell you where to go. A breakfast she catered for her church showed her that catering, not a restaurant, was her real path. She changed her business plan and her business grew. ● Opportunities build on each other. Networking led to work as a proctor and instructor, then cooking classes at area libraries, then social media reels and lives, and finally a culinary school. ● Cook for a cause. Soulful Kitchen chooses events with a purpose. LaQuisha asks who an event helps, who it impacts, and how it moves the business forward. ● Treat people with dignity. At Hope for the Hungry, guests are greeted with respect, coffee, and sometimes donuts, without judgment. As LaQuisha puts it, "I'm solving the problems that I needed solved for me." ● Healthy and flavorful can go together. Baking or roasting instead of frying, swapping a few ingredients, and getting flavor from oranges, wine, rosemary, and other herbs can make Southern dishes better for you. "We can't be small-minded when it comes to flavor." ● Get your numbers right. LaQuisha's advice to new entrepreneurs is to hire an accountant early: "Let your numbers tell a story." ● Be yourself in a crowded market. Selling dinners like many other food entrepreneurs didn't work. Following her own vision of large, elegant Southern events did. Timestamps ● 00:00 - Meet LaQuisha Jackson, Founder and CEO of Soulful Kitchen ● 01:38 - From a Retirement Home Kitchen to Soulful Kitchen: The 2017 Pivot and Spark ● 05:04 - From Restaurant Plans to Catering, Cooking Classes, and a Culinary School ● 09:45 - Community, Catering for a Cause, and the Birth of Hope for the Hungry ● 15:04 - Why South Bend: Turning Hardship Into Purpose ● 16:55 - Awards, Paying It Forward, and Building Connections in Indianapolis ● 22:18 - Mentors, Support Programs, and Leaders Who Follow Through ● 24:24 - Why Southern Cuisine, and How to Make It Healthy ● 27:45 - Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs and a Question for the Next Guest Connect: ● Rooted & Reaching Podcast: https://www.southbendelkhart.org ● Host: Chisonga Mukumbuta:   / chisonga   ● Guest: LaQuisha Jackson, Founder and CEO, Soulful Kitchen:   / laquisha-jackson-2aba37155   #RootedAndReaching #SouthBend #CreativeEntrepreneur #CommunityBuilding #Elkhart #Michiana #Entrepreneurship #SmallBusiness #SoulfulKitchen #HopeForTheHungry #SouthernCuisine #SoulFood #Catering #CulinaryTraining #WomenEntrepreneurs #FoodInsecurity #FoodEntrepreneur