We were lucky to catch up with Ladonia Spence recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ladonia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I am Happy to have a business. But I’m not happy as a business owner. I’ve experienced a lot of unethical clients, that make it hard being the catering business, especially as a pacific Islander from St. Catherine, Jamaica. There’s a time where I have to withdraw my service, because the prices that the clients want to pay would have resulted in not earning. The Positive part is, they know and trust that I will deliver and go above and beyond. but for some odd reason, some clients ask for a lot of cuisines and they are not willing to pay my price. And then, they’re real clients and companies who will genuinely accept my price. gets the same results and love the service we provide. but, It’s hard to find clients like that, in today’s economy where everything is so expensive.

Ladonia , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello Everyone, My name is Ladonia Spence. I was born and raised in Spanish Town, Jamaica. My upbringing was very humbling and poor. Our neighborhood was violent. I remember my older brother and I had the responsibility of raising our chickens and other livestock to feed a family of eight. Every day growing up in Jamaica was about learning how to survive poverty. We learned how to swim, run, farm, fish, and maintain natural independence. Everything we ate was naturally grown and organic. As infants and as we got older, my brother and I were rarely sick, and when we did catch a little illness, there were always natural herbs that we used to make teas that maintained and protected our bodies from experiencing major health issues. This was especially important since healthcare was lacking, and doctor care was very expensive.

I came to the United States on February, 23,2001. I was nine years old. Everything was so new to me. There were so many new tastes and so many different cultures. I was amazed by the different cultural differences that were in this country. In elementary school, I got my first experience of tasting different dishes from classmates with different cultural backgrounds. That’s when my interest in cooking cuisines other than my own caught on fire.
Since then, I have experienced four years of Culinary Arts programming at Wilde Lake High School and two years of college-level Culinary Arts Programming at Lincoln Technical Culinary Arts Institute, here in Columbia, Maryland. I became a certified chef at the age of 20. I’ve spent an overall 10 years in a professional kitchen perfecting my culinary arts skills. I’ve been recognized and rewarded by many great chefs.

On February 14, 2021, I decided to take a leap of faith and started my own Certified Home-Approved Restaurant, “Jamaica Home Kitchen” in partnership with America’s #1 app Dishdivvy. Whereas I provide Organic homemade meals for my local neighbors, families and friends. I’ve gain a lot of new customers, that understands the importance of eating healthy organic meals for yourself and family. So, it gives my target market a whole new exciting opportunity to indulge in cooking in a homemade home cooking aspect.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I have built a 14 year reputation within the market, through my many previous Jobs that I have held, and still have connections to. I have been rewarded and recognized by my skill set for the past 14 years and it’s still in continuing. I think the best part of having those positive long-term clients helps increase my reputation. Whenever someone loves a job that i do, they always tends to speak about it and refer others to me. that helps build a strong reputation through these years.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing your clientele, is showing your clients your appreciation. Whenever, they return to you a third or fourth time for your service, Make sure to add in an extra product, or a free product or a discount. That will let your clientele know you care about them and you appreciate their business. Most clients will become your family, or sometimes it can venture out into a new business partnership opportunity. so it really helps that you reward your clients and treat them with the utmost love and respect. After all, without them, theirs no income for your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dishdivvy.com/cook/-Mwcsuiynv9UuP6NENoz?
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamaicahomekitchen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jamaica.Hkitchen
• Youtube: Jamaica Home Kitchen

Image Credits
I am the owner of all my photos. I have owners rights.