Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Naijha Wright-Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Naijha , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Have you ever heard the saying ‘Food is medicine’? If this is true, why do African Americans have the highest health disparities in conditions like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer, and asthma, among other chronic health issues? Food is supposed to give us life, not death. Of course, there are other factors at play, such as economic stability, education, healthcare access, quality of care, neighborhood and environment, and social and community context.
The Land of Kush, a multi-award-winning vegan restaurant, is bringing plant-based eating to disadvantaged communities in Baltimore to make an impact on these dire statistics. When we first opened the doors, over 13 years ago, my husband and I knew the mission was to be a social enterprise, not solely a for-profit business. Our profit margin is minute, if anything, especially after the pandemic and post-COVID inflation. Consider the fact that we exist to be a social enterprise. Our business has inspired many similar Black-owned eateries so much that we are called monolithic in news articles. We are blessed and humbled by this recognition. The meaning of Kush is defined as an ancient African civilization in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in what is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt. Many of our customers are unaware of this knowledge because we are taught in schools that Africans were always slaves. Not to mention, the term Kush is normally identified as a controlled substance. Our mission is to educate and empower our community because before there was any history, there was African history, and as important to learn as any other civilization’s history.
We pride ourselves on hiring within the community. Although we look for employees with the necessary skills and work experience, we have given precedence to job seekers who are eager to learn and have the enthusiasm to play on a winning team, not just for the dollar, but to provide stellar service to all of our customers. The opportunity to grow with a small business and come up the ranks exists if our employees have the aspiration to be leaders. Most importantly, they learn how to eat to live. Our employees are proud wearers of the company t-shirts which piques further interest in their communities. However, at the time of this interview, none of our employees are vegan. Although, they each have their favorite menu items at the store.
Why is this a meaningful mission to us? We are bridging the gap and not building walls. We welcome the community into our space and make our vegan soul food accessible. You do not have to be vegan to walk through our door. We do not need to see your vegan ID. We do not care whether you are vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, flexitarian, or whatever. Do you have an open mind and a goal of improving your health? We are here for you. We are the ultimate vegan soul experience.
Naijha , 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?
As a native New Yorker, I grew up in a New York City housing project in the South Bronx. I was exposed to gardening, farming, environmentalism, sustainability, and farm-to-table eating at six years of age. My mom enrolled me in the Fresh Air Fund summer camp where inner-city children were bussed to stay with families living in suburban and rural areas. I spent most of my youthful summers in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. After high school, my professional resume was built working administrative jobs in the city’s mid- and downtown areas. College was an afterthought. I later enrolled in a private college to obtain my Bachelor’s in Business Administration degree to pursue better career opportunities. Working in the food service industry was never intriguing until I relocated to Baltimore, Maryland a decade later and met a co-worker (now my husband) while working in the call center of a wireless phone company. His desire to open a vegan restaurant in the inner city of Baltimore motivated me, especially when I was focusing more on improving my health.
As previously mentioned, opening a restaurant with an all-vegan menu, in a disadvantaged community in Baltimore, set us apart from others because it became a social mission as a for-profit business, inspiring other similar eateries to follow suit across the country. As the Marketing Director for The Land of Kush, a 13-year multi-award winning vegan restaurant boasting 2,600+ reviews, averaging an over four-star rating, I learned that the food service industry is a vital part of the community that contributes to the social, cultural, environmental, and economic aspects of a nation.
Along with providing a solution to access healthier soul food for the community, bridging the gap between races and cultures earned The Land of Kush several awards and accolades. Uplifting women, especially African and Latin-American, while advocating for holistic health, veganism, and the plant-based lifestyle led to my co-founding a charitable organization, the Black Vegetarian Society of Maryland dba Black Veg Society. I co-founded and organized the city’s first vegan soul festival, and collaborated on a local vegan restaurant week which has now grown to a month-long campaign. I host a digital talk show called Naijha Speaks helping people find their vegan soul (compassion) through food, people, events, and culture. I would have never imagined my career being featured in Forbes, Baltimore Business Journal, Baltimore Magazine, Baltimore Sun, Black Enterprise Magazine, and other local digital and print media publications. I am blessed and humbled.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Some key behavioral characteristics I value are moving with love and compassion, ingenuity, getting things done correctly the first time, and driving measurable results. Being a social enterprise, we find ourselves hiring people who have difficulty finding jobs, the un- and under-employed. If not us, then who? Some have demonstrated their leadership and management abilities to lead toward career advancement. We focus on building a culture of family resulting in our Google reviews being over 2,600, averaging over 4 stars. This rating is only easy to sustain when we focus on our inconsistencies in food and customer service. We are only as good as the team we hire and allow to lead.
How’d you meet your business partner?
If you allow my husband, Gregory D. Brown, to tell the story, he will say I stalked him. That could not be further from the truth. We were on a call center management team reporting to the same associate director. He was bringing me vegan lunches to taste test at work. I guess the quickest way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach, huh? A progressive woman at that. It was a nice day in July and as I was leaving work Greg mentioned it was his birthday. I asked him if he wanted to go out for dinner. He said, yes. The rest is history. I would have never imagined that we would have grown this relationship into a business partnership, have our first child, and get married just from my treating him to a birthday dinner. I am grateful because he is truly a blessing. He’s a wonderful husband and a great dad to our ‘daddy’s girl’. I appreciate and love him very much.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.landofkush.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandofkush
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelandofkush
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naijha-wright-brown-58633150/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thelandofkush
- Youtube: http://www.naijhaspeaks.com
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-land-of-kush-baltimore
- Other: https://www.blackvegsociety.org
Image Credits
Scott Suchman
Michelle “Diva Yogi” Stafford
KStar Productions
Rissa Miller
Baltimore Sun
Big Shots by LJ