We were lucky to catch up with Sellecca Ballenger Sallis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sellecca, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Jerk Italy is a family business. I’m the CEO( Sellecca) Justin is the Chef and our mom is the CFO. In 2020 we lost our brother Daniel to a tragic accident. He attempted to save his sister Debbie. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful and they both passed away. Months after the tragic accident my brother and I did some soul searching about our purpose in life. That’s when we came up with the idea of Jerk Italy. A new creation of food so rare people will have to come to us to get it. We tested the theory the next weekend. Shortly after we were presented an opportunity to feed 160 members of the Austin community for several weekends. This was a sign to us that Jerk Italy was our destiny.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Let’s start with our Chef. Chef Justin Ballenger has been cooking since he was a young kid he always had a passion for food. In grammar school him and our mom had a very successful cheese cake business where their cheese cakes was in restaurants. In high school he had an opportunity to be on food networks teen chopped season 25 episode 5. He came in second place on the episode. He studied culinary arts Johnson and Wells University. He also worked under Michelin Star chefs. Chef Justin is truly a culinary artist at best. His food is absolutely delicious. Next is our CEO Sellecca. She studied business in college and always had a desire to be a business owner. She was a corporate sales trainer for surf’s up franchises. She also was a social media and store manager for Jordan’s Beauty Supply which is the first black owned beauty supply in the South Shore Chicago. She had many sales jobs including car sales. She is in charge of customer service excellence and sales goals and strategies. Last but not least is Sandra our CFO aka Momenger . This mom is truly about her business. She is a graphic designer and baker extraordinaire. This Amazing lady is the child of an Entrepreneur so it’s in the dna. She was the graphic designer of Jordan’s beauty Supply for over 25 years. She also owned her own graphic business design by sandra. She is in charge of our finances, desserts , and graphics. She makes sure that we have uniforms, marketing materials, and groceries.
That’s a quick break down of the team. Together we are Jerk Italy Catering. We do events such as weddings, bridal showers, and parties large or small we do them all. We have a kitchen in park forest Illinois and we accept bookings through our website www.jerkitaly.com. Our specialty on the menu is Jerk Lasagna, Ghost Pepper Mac and Cheese, Brisket, Garlic Parmesan wings and jerk ranch sauce which is to die for. I am so proud that we are able to accomplish so much as a family team. It’s not always easy but it’s always worth it.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Jerk Italy definitely started out as a side hustle. We all had jobs when we first opened up. As an entrepreneur it’s a lot of money that goes into owning a business so we all needed jobs to get the equipment and business licenses needed. So we started this business out of pocket with what we had as a team. As our business increased so did the demand for us to leave our full time jobs to pursue our business full time.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

When managing a team always remember to remain a team player. Best tip I can give is try to maintain a mutual respect for all team members . Great communication is essential for team building. Maintaining a positive attitude is also essential.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jerkitaly.com
• Instagram: Jerkitaly
• Facebook: Jerk Italy
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Photos by Blake Martin