We were lucky to catch up with Kyri Burke recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kyri , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I’m extremely satisfied and happier with being a full-time entrepreneur and business owner . I often think about what it would be like if I stayed in corporate America and worked a regular 9 to 5 job . There wasn’t much satisfaction or fulfillment working in corporate America I always felt like something was missing I always knew that I was destined and purposed to do something much more passionate that spoke to the identity of who I really am .

I remember back in 2017 working at a fast food restaurant how unhappy I was and how every two weeks I would look at my check and I thought to myself there has to be more to my life than this it was at that moment that I made up my mind that I would pursue becoming a full-time entrepreneur and full-time business owner .

Every two weeks I would take a portion of my paycheck and deposit it into a separate bank account so that I could save a little bit of money for my vision and things that I wanted to create whether it was clothing or something else that was on my mind at the moment when you are a visionary and a creative there are so many ideas that come to mind so you have to do a lot of soul-searching to see what really pulls and gravitate towards you most .

Any time I would start something that I was passionate about and I would market it as best as possible it would always takeoff it would always sell out it would always be something that people loved and that was popular and it seemed that my passion for what it is that I love to do would require more time then I was able to give it if I stayed in corporate America .

It was at that moment that I finally launched out to the deep and took the risk to become a full-time entrepreneur there has been many ups and downs but I don’t regret my decision to chase after my dreams and you shouldn’t either !

“If you don’t take the risk you can’t reap the reward “ – BURKE©️

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Kyri Burke I am a native of New Jersey recently relocated to the great city of Atlanta Georgia I am the proud owner of Burkes Kitchen and Catering where we specialize in southern cuisine .

Recently I had the honor and privilege to cook for Celebrity Blogger Larry Ried who runs a very large and successful blog and talk show .

I’ve also been privileged to cook and cater for a host of other events and functions throughout the city of Atlanta .

I am also the proud owner of black sheep apparel where we customize modern day apparel for every creative from all walks of life . Specializing in hoodies, hats jumpsuits & t-shirts with my very own one of a kind personalize slogans and catch phrases .

I’m also a stylist BURKES Styling & Co. anytime you’re looking for a different look and you want to jazz up your appearance I’m your guy I have a particular eye for fashion that sets me aside from anyone else that’s currently in the market I piece things together and I see things much differently than most .

What I’m most proud about is my perseverance and drive to never give up . Devoted to always reach for the stars , as a single father since the age of 17 I’ve always done my best to chase after my dreams and to be A consistent example to cupcake my daughter .

When I first moved to Atlanta I found myself homeless without having anywhere to live living from hotels to motels sometime even sleeping in my car that went on for about six months . The first business that I launched here in Atlanta Georgia was Pixie Vending LLC where I purchased my first vending machine and set up its location.

I started Pixie Vending LLC towards the ending of 2021 before the summer of 2022 only 6 to 7 months In I was able to sell that company for triple what it took me to start it . Which was an amazing accomplishment for me . Since then I’ve been helping other entrepreneurs and businesses owners that have the desire to go into business for themselves I teach a one on one master class on how they can acquire their own vending machine company , how to acquire an EIN Number and other documents that might be required by the state they live in also how they can successfully start their own small business venture .

As someone who has seen the unfortunate side of a marriage ending in a divorce Im certified and have over five years of experience when it comes to family matters , custody battles divorces and annulments .

Coming soon in 2023 I will be officially launching my very own podcast real talks with BURKE 💖 where I will discuss controversial topics , offer dating advice & marriage tips , parenting and any other popular or trending topics that I feel are necessary to give feedback on.

In addition to my already established résumé I am also an expiring actor I’ve been afforded the opportunity to act in some comedy skits here in Atlanta Georgia with some of Atlantas most influential bloggers comedians & content creators .

When you see my brand please understand that blood sweat & tears and consistency is something I stand on.

Our desire and what we seek after is to make sure we provide the highest level of customer service to all of our clients customers, followers and fans we proud ourselves in fast shipping quick turnaround times and 100% guarantee satisfaction on any service that we provide .

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

One day I was sitting on my couch at home and I was looking at the bills that were stacked on my countertop what was due what was currently coming up and I didn’t have enough money to take care of everything that I had to take care of .

One of my friends Ebony was like I think you should sell some T-shirts and I looked at her and I said oh no I don’t think I want to sell T-shirts that’s not gonna give me enough money or the amount of money that I need to take care of what I need to take care of by selling T-shirts I don’t think that’s a great idea.

She kept repeating herself I didn’t take her serious right away so it took me about maybe a week or so before I actually said well nothings changing my income is not increasing what do I have to lose I had previously sold a T-shirts before and it did really well but I don’t know why but I just lost motivation and I stopped selling T-shirts .

Finally I started searching for warehouses and wholesalers who I could purchase the T-shirts from in bulk order which would ultimately save me money versus me buying the T-shirts out of the store for full price per shirt .

Whenever I’m around my friends and family I’m the comedian I’m always the life of the party I’m always having people laughing and I’m always just saying the first thing thing that comes to mind sometimes it’s a good thing some time is a bad bad thing however I have my own verbiage how I formulate words and catchphrases just come to me out of nowhere .

There was a season in my life where I felt like I was being provoked I lost some friendships some relationships failed and I just felt like people were trying to provoke a response out of me because I really went to a silent place .

One day I’m sitting on the couch and I said to my friend and I said to myself there’s so many people trying to pull me out of character but in this season of my life “I’m only responding to invoices “ it was at that moment that a T-shirt idea was Birthed without me even knowing I didn’t catch on until days later .

Once I carched on to what it is that I said and the power that came behind that statement I immediately started production I found some hoodies T-shirts and some blank hats and I got my personalized one-of-a-kind slogan put on each of them .

Since the release of only responding to invoices you will see different creators & national celebrities wearing my apparel.

That one slogan was the birth in place to what was to come after .

Shortly after Soul Say Yes was another T-shirt an extension of only responding to invoices a declaration statement that whatever God has for our life our soul says yes to his will so that we can see the manifestation of great things .

One of the milestones and challenges for me is that I had no idea how fast this would take off and it did very fast to the point where I had more orders then I had inventory .

No biggie that was a easy fix I just made sure the next time I ordered I doubled or tripled the order amount .

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the lessons I had to learn is that just because one particular group of individuals reject your gifting and your creativity doesn’t mean that the entire world agrees with them .

Sometime as business owners and entrepreneurs we look at everybody else that is more successful than us and we discourage ourselves and it makes us not want to push forward in our own businesses.

I had to quickly learn how to stop measuring my business to other successful businesses there were many businesses that started after me that were much more successful than I was but I had to take notes on things that they were doing that I wasn’t so that I could be better not to compete but just so that I can advance in areas where I might not have been as strong.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.blacksheepapparel.com
• Instagram: @burkescatering
• Facebook: Kyri N. Burke
• Twitter: Kyri Burke
• Other: Burkenterprisesatl@gmail.com

Image Credits
Mario Campbell