We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Madeline Batayeh Sherman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Madeline Batayeh, thanks for joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
My parents having immigrated to the US from the Middle East and settling in Southwest Detroit in hopes of providing for their growing family were the epitome of hard work and unwavering strong work ethic.
Madeline Batayeh, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m the owner and operator of Momma Sherm’s Catering & Meal Prep, cookbook author, mother and grandmother. I was born and raised in southwest Detroit and am currently a resident and operate our business in Ypsilanti, MI. Momma Sherm’s officially began as a business in 2018 after being encouraged by my family to expand my love of cooking and feeding people into an actual business. We offer a variety of cuisines and are known for our versatility in flavors, quality of products and affordability.
Momma Sherm’s meal preps have grown over the years with many busy families yearning for affordable home cooked meals and those on the fitness track take advantage of Momma’s Weekly Fit Foodie Meal preps.
One of our first items made popular by feeding the performers at my son’s music performances and team sports is still a staple on our menu is Momma Sherm’s Pot Pies that we feature at many pop up locations throughout Washtenaw & Wayne County.
We’ve recently launched a spice line and I’ve also authored a cookbook titled My Momma’s Hands featuring the Mediterranean flavors from my childhood.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
The majority of my adulthood career life was based in real estate. I spent most of my career working for several large management companies in the multifamily industry in sales and marketing then became an entrepreneur as a real estate broker. A key element of the success of my real estate business was my hospitality and the feeling of family that was relayed to all of our clients. Open houses were filled with my home baked treats & entrees and I’d have return calls not only for my real estate expertise but also inquiries for food orders for events that previous and current clients and other real estate professionals were hosting. With some prompting from family and friends, Momma Sherm’s became an official business. The name comes from the name I am known as in the community. Being a mother of my 3 boys, my kitchen table became the place for the neighborhood friends and families to congregate. As the boys and their friends grew, they still craved the food at Momma Sherm’s table and helped to spread the word and grow this love I have of cooking into a business.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Being the fifth born in a family of seven children and being of Jordanian descent we were taught to always consider others and to place our own wants and needs secondary to others. In the Middle Eastern culture I was raised in, confidence can be interpreted as arrogance and therefore not something that is encouraged to display. Not until I was well into my adult life did I realize after much encouragement from my family and anyone that had tasted my food that I was good enough. My food is good enough and although I still experience many insecurities today i have validation that counteracts the underlying uncertainty that we all have to shed from childhood.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @mommasherms
- Facebook: Momma Sherm’s
- Other: [email protected] email link to cookbook My Momma’s Hands https://www.amazon.com/My-Mommas-Hands-Collection-Memories/dp/1098306902/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1642557056&refinements=p_27%3AMadeline+Batayeh+Sherman&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Madeline+Batayeh+Sherman