We recently connected with Odessa Davis and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Odessa, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

Hello, my name is Odessa Davis, and I own Odessa’s Home Cooking. We provide a variety of services such a catering, personal chef, cooking class, and customize cookie dough. Our food is made with love and freshness. The one thing we have done for the community is catered for community events. There, we meet the community, and they tell me their story. An older man had a house fire and did not have a kitchen for months. So, every Sunday, we would make him a Sunday Dinner to last him for a couple of days. Providing that service helps people with diet restrictions. I would love for my company to get funding to supply meals to people in a crisis. This is important to me because when my mother had a fire, we had to take every day for every meal, and that got tiring. I created meals for us that I could make in the microwave.

Odessa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into the food industry because my mother could not cook. I started cooking when I was eight years old. When I got to high school, I took a culinary class, which led me to go to a culinary school called Le Cordon Bleu. Then, in 2020, after graduating from Montgomery College and getting a business degree, I started Odessa’s Home Cooking. I love helping the community. I want my business to provide fresh food from scratch to their dinner table.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Well, funding my business has been challenging. However, I have not given up. Before my new job, I worked four to five jobs to invest in my business. Now, I have a full-time job to invest in it. I also applied for grants but only got one, so I am working on finding the funding.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think what helped me build my reputation was doing a lot of advocacy in the community. I advocate for families on the benefits cliff and food insecurity. I spoke in front of Congress about the P-EBT card during the pandemic. I also talk to state and local officials. Doing these things helps spread my name around so that people want to follow me on my journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.odessashomecooking.com/
• Instagram: @odessahomecooking
• Facebook: Odessa’s Home Cooking

Image Credits
I want to thank Manna Food and Montgomery College.