We recently connected with Patience Titcombe and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Patience thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
Lasgidi is a slang word for Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
Gigi in the Yoruba language means strong. Las is just a shortened term for Lagos, so if you put the two together you get LasGidi-which to me means Lagos strong. That is what I feel embodies my food, my brand, my culture, and myself. We are strong. Our culture is strong. Our food is strong. I am strong and I get to share my love for my culture, our strength, and everything good about Lasigidi with the people of Phoenix and soon, other cities!
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 background and context?
Lasgidi Cafe is a food and event production company that got its start in 2018 as a need to fill a void. In 2018, there wasn’t a single consistent West African eatery in the valley. Tired of spending money on food that I wasn’t really enjoying, I decided to start cooking some of my favorite recipes with my friends and family. That got it’s spread to others by word of mouth or social media and Lasgidi Cafe was growing. Early 2019, I decided to add on a branch to the business, the Lasgidi Cooking Experience. This is a cooking class that started on the airbnb experiences platform that allowed me to hosts guests and teach them how to cook some of my favorite Nigerian dishes such as jollof rice, suya, and meatpie. COVID-19 came about and operations slowed down and eventually shut down. Life happened in between that and I got married and had a beautiful baby girl. Realizing that I really loved cooking and sharing my culture with people, Lasgidi Cafe was off to an even brighter and better future. I curated our first of many dining experiences, The Lasgidi Brunch Experience, on Saturday April 2nd, 2022. This was a brunch event that served a 5 course meal, cocktails, DJ, and other amenities for 35 guests. Since then, we have launched virtual, in person, and group cooking classes and 2 more future food experiences. We can’t wait for what is to come.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Word of mouth and social media are my two biggest sources for new clients. Social media has grown to be such a credible and essential part of our world today. Over 70% of people look for services on social media, whether it is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat. I have people DM me to learn more about what we offer or to place an order. Good old word of mouth has also never failed us. If the food is good people will talk and they will talk to other people!
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Communication is key! If you can imagine how hard it is to communicate in your personal life, then imagine that times two in the business setting. You have to set and manage expectations and communicate like your life depends on it. Explain everything (even if it seems redundant). Also continue to pour into your team and remember that also it is your business, it is a job for them. Recognize their efforts and hard work and show appreciation.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lasgidicafe.com
- Instagram: lasgidicafephx
- Facebook: Lasgidi Cafe
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/hdQY_Ot0GOg
Image Credits
Justice Davis