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

Poetential, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

It’s always important for a business to recognize their customers and express your appreciation for the support you receive. A few ways we show customers we care are as follows: Follow up communication to personally thank the client for choosing ReBeLFoodie ByPOE, offering future discounts, give an additional item for free etc.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My interest in cooking started at home when I was a youngster watching my mother create miracles meals. I made my professional debut in culinary at the age of 19/20. I’ve worked in most culinary settings from fast food to fine dining establishments such as CourtWrights, Napa Valley Grill, Bin 36, Lawry’s The Prime Rib etc. Taught culinary classes full of kids, teenagers and adults. Private chef service, travel chef gigs and cooked for a few celebs. ReBeLFoodie ByPOE LLC was conceptualized in 2018 then brought into fruition in 2020 with wife / co-owner iirie Earnest. This is a unique brand that offers a slew of services such as: catering ^ meal prep / kits ^ private cheffing ^ recipe development ^ culinary arts instructor ^ food photography etc.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

It’s simple:

Once my wife and I officially committed to being Vegan, we decided to switch the business to that even after 1 year of operating successfully as a non vegan establishment. We first offered all types of food (with the exception of pork) then on a whim we introduced our first all vegan menu at a pop up event. I made sure to practice creating delicious + unique vegan dishes of different cuisines that had a forward approach. Once my confidence was there, I gave the green light. The pivot was warranted because we stopped thinking about ourselves and started thinking about the community, the city, the planet and the future.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met the co owner / my business partner well over 20 years ago and we ran into each throughout the years before we became friends then eventually husband and wife prior to going into business with one another. She is a beautiful-brilliant-creative individual.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: IG: rebelfoodie_bypoe
• Facebook: chefpoe

Image Credits
IG: rebelfoodie_bypoe IG: earnestlyiirie360