It takes a rare mix of creativity, resourcefulness, adaptability and determination to take a promising idea and turn it into an actual business. LaTanya (she/her) exuded all these strengths and more during her training in our Food Pathways Program.
As her graduation approached, LaTanya’s FareStart case manager connected her with Ventures, a Seattle nonprofit that helps aspiring entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities get grounded in the basics of running a business. Other FareStart mentors introduced her to a shared-use commercial kitchen that gave her six months of access rent-free. Artisan Community Kitchen now serves as home base for the business she’s getting off the ground: T’s Messy Potatoes.
LaTanya loads her signature spuds with protein-packed combos of shrimp, salmon, chicken or steak, and veggies like broccoli, grilled peppers and carrots.
“Some people think of a potato with just sour cream, chives and bacon bits,” she said. “My potato — it’s a meal!”
Since graduating from FareStart last summer, LaTanya has catered events and cooked meals for homeless shelters. She’s signed up for spots in two farmers markets and talked to an area school district about stocking her potatoes in healthy vending machines. She taught a “Mommy and Me” cooking class — with her daughter, A’Morah as her capable assistant — at Dignity for Divas, which helps women experiencing homelessness regain stability as they rebuild their lives.
Adapting to Life’s Twists and Turns
LaTanya has a lifetime of experience rolling with big changes in life. She moved around a lot as a kid, living with her grandmother in Mississippi for several years and visiting her mom in East St. Louis on weekends. The family later moved to Minnesota then the Seattle area. Her mom worked hard to raise three kids on her own, always talking up the importance of getting a good education.
When LaTanya got expelled from school at 16, her mom kept her on track to get her high school diploma by enrolling her in Running Start. She earned the rest of the credits she needed to graduate at South Seattle College, where her mom was taking classes as well. LaTanya’s mom never gave up on her, not even when trouble landed her in prison in her early 20s.
After she got out, LaTanya got trained in cosmetology and massage therapy, figuring it would be easier to make a living in those fields than hoping employers wouldn’t hold her criminal record against her. She went back to school to take culinary classes and managed a restaurant for a while and earned an associate’s degree in human services. She would often share home-cooked meals with co-workers and fellow students.
“Everybody would be like, ‘Dang! Who cooked this?!” she recalls.
Finding a Path Forward at FareStart
Cooking for people brought LaTanya so much joy, she reached out to FareStart, joined our Food Pathways Program last spring and graduated in August. Looking back, one of the things she appreciates the most was the supportive spirit of camaraderie she felt every day — especially from her fellow students.
“We pushed each other,” she said. “We had to help each other. We worked as a team. We knew graduating would open doors.”
And it has.
Not every opportunity has worked out. She thought she had lined up an affordable spot to open a T’s Messy restaurant, but it didn’t work out. She didn’t let the setback get her down. Instead, she started looking into a food trailer and roadside spots where she could set up T’s Messy pop-up locations.
She enjoyed leading the cooking class at Dignity for Divas so much, she’s thinking about updating her business plan to give herself more time as a cooking instructor. As one opportunity after another comes her way, she embraces them all with a can-do spirit, even when she can barely keep up with it all.
“I’m a Gemini, so I get bored easily,” she said with a chuckle.
Like Mother Like Daughter
While pregnant with her daughter, LaTanya mapped out a plan with her mom, who was ready to retire and excited to move in to take care of her grandbaby.
“She was going to stay home, and I was going to work, work, work to support us. That was our plan,” LaTanya said. “God had other plans.”
Her mom passed away just a few months before A’Morah was born. In the eight years since, LaTanya has juggled work, school and parenting, just like her mom did before her. She’s proud of the example she’s setting for her daughter, just like her mom did for her. And she’s grateful for all the ways FareStart helped her build confidence about her future.
“FareStart made me more open to opportunities,” she said. “It’s like being in the kitchen, you don’t know the recipes at first, but you’re gonna try it. And you’ve gotta believe you can do it.”
Over 7,000 students have enrolled in FareStart job training programs since 1992. Learn more about our job training programs and ways you can get involved in our work to help more people like LaTanya build a brighter future.
