We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Skye McDaniel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Skye below.

Hi Skye, thanks for joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

In all of the years that I have done project based work with food, whether it be a pop or an underground dinner, I have always had such tremendous support from friends and family.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, baking was all I could think to do after losing my job, but in this new circumstance, I couldn’t rely on passersby seeing a pop up sign and deciding to purchase.

That turned out not to be an issue at all. Friends and family filled my inbox with orders. They were happy to pick up from my front porch, and leave money in the mailbox or use Venmo. It was a such an outpouring of support in such a scary and completely uncertain time. It really gave me comfort that I was going to be ok no matter what came my way.

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?

When I was little I thought that my passion was food. Since I was 10 years old I knew I wanted to be a cook. It wasn’t until a few years after culinary school, and working in my industry that I realized my true passion was people.

All business is about people. Any industry or vocation you can enter into is about people’s needs and wants and/or necessities.

My industry is about addressing people’s need to feel welcomed, happy, and excited about a dining experience or food that they love. For me, hospitality is about showing you care through what you prepare for someone to consume. The best ingredients, prepared with care and love, nurture the most. I prefer to leave flare and ego out of my kitchen.

In the endeavor to nurture more people in my community I decided to open my own shop! I see the holes in services in our neighborhood because I live here too. With the new normal of the pandemic I decided on a grab-n-go concept for organic rotisserie chicken, sandwiches and salads. These are things that I consume on a regular basis, but in Oak Cliff there aren’t many places to get them, and not everyone can prioritize cooking for themselves. The ethics behind responsible animal husbandry and sustainability are very important to me, and I hope to bring not only good food but education to my community.

My tiny spot is called La Bodega because it is small and here for the community it sits directly in. It is to help my neighbors get quality food- near them.

After 20 years in the service industry, meeting people and making friends, it feels like the right time to give back directly with something I know I can accomplish with love and service.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I was raised in a lower middle income household with very specific principles around money. Included in these principles was a very conservative need to save save save.

On the surface it is important to make sure not to spend more than you make. Debt is no fun thing, but my personality really ran with the concepts around saving and not being a risk taker.

As an adult, I have been proud of the way I have managed my small amount of income, and I never really thought about needing much more- that was until I wanted to open my own business!

The reality of what it would cost to start a business (especially a restaurant) from scratch is what had kept me from doing it for so long. I would have done it 15 years ago if I hadn’t been so scared! Luckily, in the last two years, after losing my job due to the pandemic, I was able to gain flexibility in my mindset (I mean, I HAD TO!) Just getting out of my day today grind, and be able to evaluate my wants over my fears was a huge unlearning process for me.

Choosing to spend my hard earned and hard saved money on a dream became much more logical than saving it for- what? Just to say I had it? Some false sense of security? I did a lot of reading and educated myself for this next step, and decided that investing in myself and my soul’s purpose was the smartest thing I could do with my money.

Talk about a 180!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

At this point in time: any of us in the hospitality industry still pursuing our passions must be considered resilient!

When I first started in this industry at 14 I thought logically that no matter what- I would always have a job.

When the one thing that could upend our industry happened, I was caught so off guard! It was terrifying, because I had no back up plan. I was doing what I always did and loved doing, which happened to be in a very secure industry. Or so I thought.

Over the year in 2020, while laid off, I taught myself many new skills, even learned about CRM software and digital marketing. At the beginning of 2021 I landed a job in digital marketing with a friend’s small company in Dallas.

It was a great way to get my foot in the door, and I was learning a lot, but once restrictions eased and I was back out in the world and my neighborhood a bit more, I couldn’t help but notice the hole that needed to be filled in our restaurant offerings. And just like that, after swearing off hospitality because it was too risky, and the hours are hard, and the pay is bad… I was planning my own place. That’s a resilient full circle.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.labodegaoakcliff.com
• Instagram: @labodegaoakcliff
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/labodegaoakcliff

Image Credits
Brooke Opie, Barista photo