We were lucky to catch up with Machelle Jackson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Machelle , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

As a mom, a woman, a wife, a child of God, a First Lady, pastor, author, a chef, and a businesswoman. I know the value of hard work and living your truth. Basically, being born in Monroe, LA and living the majority of my life in Monroe and Baton Rouge La, watching my mother work so hard and not seeing her much affected me. While my mother worked, I ended up spending a lot of time with my dad. As a little girl, I would go to work with my father who was a small business owner, who owned a mechanic shop. He was also a chef and baker. While working with my father, I was able to see how running your own business worked. From watching him work, I knew I would follow in his footsteps and I would own a family business. Other times, I spent it with my grandmother watching her cook. My grandmother was an old school, country Baptist woman of God. Her nickname was Big Mama and she’s the one who taught me that “Silence was Power.” She was the kind of woman who kept all the kids in the neighborhood, so you know her cooking was the bomb. My grandmother would cook for all of her grandchildren. There was almost 20 of us, and I would be in the kitchen with her making everything from scratch. Food always brought us together, and as I grew up, I recognized that food symbolized family and joy. I wanted to continue that tradition by using food to bring people from all walks of life together. I love cooking and it always brings me joy, so I cook to hopefully bring joy to this world.
As time progressed, I found myself understanding that my passion for life is cooking, my faith, being a mother, being a wife, and helping people succeed. Working a 9 to 5 for years had limited my ability to enjoy my passions. God has opened the doors allowing me to go into business for myself and provide a life for my family. I’m working now, not to put money into someone’s bank account, but to build the equity that will one day become the legacy for my children and their children’s children. My legacy is to impact beyond my household, it’s to impact the world!
I am on a mission to educate and help people achieve financial freedom, help entrepreneurs start their business, preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and bless the bellies of Bayou Comfort Kitchen customers. 

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 back background and context?

I would like to take the time to introduce to you all to Ellehcam Solutions and Bayou Comfort Kitchen.

Ellehcam Solutions is a consulting company that specializes in personal and business solutions. We help clients achieve financial freedom. build credit, start their business and scale their business.

Bayou Comfort Kitchen was birthed from me out of the love for my state, the comfort and likeness of the food I’m inspired to cook, and the taste of passion in every meal. I am Machelle Jackson, the chef of one of the best Louisiana Cuisine stops in the state of Texas. Things that make me different from others is my authentic strive for excellence and my love for people. My daily passion is to exceed expectations and see people smile while doing it. I believe we can all win and make it with the right tools, guidance, and resources for any assignment or challenge. My relationship with God has helped frame how I see business and what is possible in the world. All things work for the good of them that love the Lord. Through Him, I learned to never give up on myself. Getting here wasn’t easy, because I experienced so much turmoil and moments of tragedy from growing up in a low income area, to watching my parents divorce, to surviving domestic abuse, to losing my grandmother, it us to be hard but yet I continued to press my way higher and move toward my destiny.

During those tough times, it was my faith in God that brought me through. I wholeheartedly believe that my purpose in life is bigger than I. It has always been important to me to be successful and break generational curses placed on my family and the desire to break those curses thrust me forward to fight for my dreams despite any obstacles I may face. My brand is purposed toward striving for excellence, exquisite taste, and Southern comfort. I want the world to know that we are about comfort through food. (Bayou Comfort Kitchen) When people see my logo which was inspired by my home state of Louisiana, and the collaboration of a culture that worked together during a time where racism, classism, and sexism was prominent everywhere else but there. I may not be the first to sell Cajun food in the world, but I am a trendsetter when it comes to presentation, taste, and style. There is only ONE Bayou Comfort Kitchen. I combine my ministry with my food, as every dish is made with love, care, and the spirit of possibility embedded in it. God is everything, especially my comfort. I would like the world to know the power of God and through the passion I pour into Bayou Comfort Kitchen, that’s how I share God’s grace and love from me with the world of today.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Many years ago, I was in an abusive relationship for 10 years. It took so much work to heal and love myself enough to walk away. It was so hard for me to walk away because I was married to my abuser with a child. All I knew was how to make my family work, that’s what the women in my family were taught. At year 9 of dealing with abuse and depression, I went to counseling to work through my trauma and filed for a divorce. It wasn’t easy fighting for freedom; however, I never gave up on myself. Life after domestic violence and divorce was liberating. I felt freedom and peace for the first time in years. I completed a vison board and manifested the life I wanted to live. I started a new career and opened my first business.

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

Listening to my clients needs to fully understand their vision. Once I understood their vision and aligned with their heart, and then build out a plan of action to execute their vision. I gained most of my clients by word of mouth and social media reviews..

Contact Info:

• Website: www.machellejackson.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ellehcam_solutions
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/machellejacksonmj
• Other: www.ellehcamsolutions.com https://facebook.com/bayoucomfortkitchen https://facebook.com/empowermentworshipcenterofdfw

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