We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Terrell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

There were two paths of life that I felt the need to pursue for many years: touching the lives of youth and becoming an entrepreneur. For many years, I had the privilege to be a teacher. Although I was confident that I was giving it my all to educate my students, I still knew that I wanted to touch their lives beyond the walls of a classroom or the pages of a textbook. With this, I opened a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization known as Today’s Other Choices, Inc. Through this organization, I cater to the needs of young people, especially those whose families struggle with low socioeconomic status. Today’s Other Choices, Inc. provides young people with mentors, academic tutors, college tours, trade school visits, public speakers, and more. Knowing that I positively impact the lives of those who are often deemed as at-risk youth is very humbling. Time and time again, I am blessed to see my former students at periods when I would least expect to see them. It is an amazement for them to continuously express to me how much I have positively touched their lives. It is my goal to one day even open my own school to further touch the lives of youth. On a different note, I also wanted to become an entrepreneur. Throughout my life, I have loved to cook. Taking a risk into the business world, I opened my own restaurant known as J’s Tasty Kitchen. Notably known for southern-style cooking, I do my best through J’s Tasty Kitchen to have recipes that were once only used while preparing meals for my family to gain as many customers as possible. As an entrepreneur, it is my goal to one day have J’s Tasty Kitchen become a well-known restaurant franchise.

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?

Day in and day out, I loved how much of a key role model I was in the lives of my students. This prompted my desire to touch their lives even more than as their teacher. Following this, I opened a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that continues to positively impact the lives of youth and their families. One of my most notable tasks that I work toward through Today’s Other Choices, Inc. is to provide youth who struggle with low socioeconomic status the same opportunities that other young people their ages have. Whether inspiring them to become first generation college graduates, encouraging them to gain a trade so that they may one day become businessowners, providing them with academic tutoring to improve their scholastic performance, giving them mentors to serve as role models, and much more, I do my best to leave a positive stamp on the lives of youth. As an entrepreneur, I think back to the days when people would tell me that my recipes are so good that I should try to make money off them one day. It brings a smile to my face knowing that this is what I now do through J’s Tasty Kitchen. Knowing that the young people in Today’s Other Choices, Inc. also see me as an entrepreneur is a joy to me, because I know it is a motivating factor to them to possibly open their own businesses as adults using a passion of their own.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best sources of new clients for me when it comes to Today’s Other Choices, Inc. entails school districts, churches, and juvenile organizations. With the assistance of such entities, I am able to find youth and families who would benefit from having the services that we provide. Whether struggling academically, having socioeconomic status as a detriment, exercising behavioral issues, or whatever the case happens to be, we do our best to reach out to anyone who may benefit from our services. When it comes to J’s Tasty Kitchen, marketing and advertising serve as the best source of finding new customers. From making limited-time items on our menu known, emphasizing our foods and event presences on the internet, catering for businesses and churches, and expressing desirable customer service, we do our best to continuously draw in customer after customer.

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

My role as a teacher in my community is what I believe helped me build my reputation as both an entrepreneur and a community leader. Prior to opening Today’s Other Choices, Inc., I lived near the school where I taught at the time. Children who were and were not my students would flock to my home for one thing: attention. As I saw that there was such a need for positive attention in the lives of youth in the community, I was inspired to open Today’s Other Choices, Inc. Additionally, J’s Tasty Kitchen began as a place of eating near a former school where I taught, which brought customer after customer to my business. Being a person who was known in a positive light helped me plant my feet as both a community leader and an entrepreneur.

Contact Info:

• Website: todaysotherchoices.org
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZC-vvKfJJA