Lakisha Hunter
FROM GANG LEADER TO CHEF
Happy New Year, Golden Divas and Divos!
Last year I introduced you to ‘Her Story & His Story,’ where I dig deeper into some of my guests’ backstories, where what didn’t break them made them stronger.
Kicking off the New Year is an ‘Unstoppable Woman’ who can’t stop and won’t stop in her quest to help people with a second chance and opportunities to succeed.
This extraordinary woman has found her passion in her purpose. I met this diva on our radio show Let’s
Stay Together Talk years ago; she attended the show, and our sisterhood was instantly formed. This beauty loves to cook and has a flair for dressing nicely. A woman after my own heart. I mean, who doesn’t love fashion and some great Jamaican food? The food is so delicious it will have your pallet dancing joyfully, asking for more!
Over the years on social media, I followed her journey and her tenacity despite what she has gone through; her mission was to help youth and adults to be able to achieve success no matter how society has labeled them. So when I say I have ‘MAD RESPECT’ for this inspiring diva, words cannot convey it.
Everyone should try to attain her transparency, tenacity, and tough love to tender care in this lifetime. She has extended her arm to help others with resources to see them soar into greatness. Her backstory is riveting & powerful, which makes her a beacon in many communities.
Her walk in life hasn’t always been easy, and one might say the road was beyond tough, ‘BUT GOD,’ who is her guiding light, had His hand on her from the beginning. Making the right choices and having faith have propelled her to be blessed so that she can bless others.
When the world has counted you out, you can count on this luminary diva to shine a light on you so that you can achieve greatness. My cooking diva found herself in the many hats she wears; while continuously making ‘BOSS MOVES‘ for herself and her family, she has stayed prayerful, grateful, and hopeful in her journey. So, with no further ado, please meet my beautiful, entrepreneur, unstoppable friend, Lakisha Hunter, known as Chef K.
MEET LAKISHA HUNTER
Lakisha Hunter is also known in the culinary and restaurant industry as “Chef K” she is an ordained elder of Powerhouse Chicago church, where Archbishop William Hudson III is her pastor.
With over 30 years in the culinary industry, it is safe to say that cooking is her business and her passion. Chef K has worked throughout the City of Chicago, teaching youth in the Chicago Public Schools and managing restaurants and hotel management. Chef K is also the founder and owner of That Jerk Spot LLC, which provides catering services and operates a mobile food truck business.
Born and raised in the inner City of Chicago, Chef K has faced many challenges and obstacles as a youth and even as a young adult. However, cooking has been Chef K’s lifeline to surviving and thriving. Chef K is committed to giving back to youth and young adults who face similar challenges. Chef K is also the founder of Rise Above the Ordinary Organization and works with the youth of the HOPES program through the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation. Through Rise Above the Ordinary, they can help inspire and equip the next generation of Chefs and future culinary entrepreneurs through mentorship and training programs.
While Chef K may wear many hats and hold many titles, she’s most proud of being called Mom by her
three loving boys, Kaden, Christian, and Jalen, who all fuel her passion, work, and commitment to the culinary industry.
With Chicago being a city filled with many exciting things to do, Chef K has discovered several enjoyable hobbies for herself. Neighborhoods, walking and sitting by the lake, journaling, and reflecting are how she balances life. She enjoys supporting local music artists/ live musical entertainment such as supporting concerts, stage plays, and musicals. Chef K also enjoys International traveling and beach time with her sons. Surprising others and showering the elders in her family with gifts and quality time bring her heart joy. Entertaining families and friends all summer long at her home with delicious delicacies is what she loves most. Lakisha also loves fashion, painting, and home decorating.
We have gifts and talents that were meant to be used inside the four walls and outside the four walls. I have to help; it’s in me to help, it’s my responsibility to help, it’s my passion to help, and it’s my calling to help my community.
IN CONVERSATION WITH LAKISHA HUNTER
C50: Lakisha tell us about being an at-risk-teen and being in a gang.
LH: To live and survive in Englewood is a blessing and a curse. If you have a crew or a big family, you’re good; if you don’t, sometimes it could be one of the worst things walking as being identified as someone from Englewood.
What makes a teen an at-risk youth is one whose chances at a successful transition to adult life are hindered by certain circumstances or factors experienced during their childhood. As a young girl facing multiple factors, you will have a more challenging time growing academically and maturing socially.
I was a child with a learning disability; therefore, the learning disability is a factor that, by itself or in conjunction with another, contributes to me becoming at risk, which is outside of my control as a child. Then there are environmental factors that impact my mental and physical health. What makes this significant is the lasting impact on my ability to function in society and take responsibility for my life.
Also, about the process of getting out of a gang? The process of getting out was a little different for me. It was 100%, God. I will say when It’s God’s timing, NOTHING CAN STOP HIS PLAN. After finding myself in a school I was forced to attend, I couldn’t participate in the school I chose due to my gang background. I was completely isolated from the female crew that I was used to. Therefore, I had to run with other people I didn’t know, or trust would have my back. Fights were breaking out everywhere, and yes, I found myself involved in most of them… with the guys and the girls. These fights were way more intense and dangerous than I’d seen in my last school. This was way different.
I was involved in trouble time after time; my culinary teacher approached me as I was on my way to a
gang fight. She heard about the fight; she knew I would be involved, so she waited for me to pass by her classroom door. She told me that If I wanted to continue to be a part of her cooking program, I had to choose, at that moment, cooking or the gang.
What she did was challenge me to make a choice: keep doing what I was doing, which was an endless road, or choose to do what was a sure road to broaden my horizons and live. Back then, you couldn’t just say you were in a particular gang; you had to be proven. There was literature to be learned, and if you were caught not knowing it, there were repercussions. I knew my literature and what my gang represented and used it to my advantage to get out.
So that I wouldn’t be tempted or pressured to go back, God made it so that my assigned region was abolished from female gangs. We could stay where we were without activity, representation/help, or follow another set in a different location. Needless to say, I stayed where I was. No one from the opposite game ever bothered me.
C50: How did you get started in the cooking business?
LH: I started cooking in my grandmother’s kitchen at the tender age of 8. I would rise bright and early to help with breakfast and dinner. My grandmother instilled cooking in me; I was the only 12-year-old in Englewood who knew how to cook a full southern Sunday dinner. Again, after being forced into a school I did not want to attend because no other school would accept me, I selected a vocational program (Culinary Arts), thinking I would change it later. Later, never came.
As a part of the cooking program, my culinary teacher taught from ProStart. ProStart is a program that teaches high school students culinary arts and restaurant management skills and fundamentals. By bringing together the industry and the classroom, ProStart gives students a platform to discover new interests and talents to open doors for fulfilling careers. That’s precisely what the program has done for me. It happens through a curriculum that includes all facets of the industry – culinary arts and restaurant management and sets a high standard of excellence for students and the industry. As a result, my teacher Darlene Austin and ProStart offered me a brand-new start at doing life better and doing life right in my career choice.
C50: You also wear the hat as an author tells us about your book ‘Finding the I In We’ and how it manifested.
LH: ‘Finding the I In We’ is a journal that asks questions and reminds readers about how we find
ourselves wearing so many “hats” in life – Wife, Husband, Business Professional, Parent, Counselor, Pastor, Minister, Role Model, Boss/Entrepreneur, etc. – until we get lost in the roles those “hats” require. But we eventually want to know and realize who we are. This book allows you to rediscover who you are and the person you want to be. After the dissolution of my marriage, I found myself just jumping back into the same routine of things I’ve been doing my whole life… taking care of others and taking care of business, all for the sake of others. I found myself doing nothing fulfilling my desire, purpose, or dreams. I realized I didn’t recognize who I was anymore. I didn’t know who I was outside of being a wife and a mother and the other hats I wore. That’s when I started the journey of “Finding the I in We” and how to accomplish this journey.
C50: You are undoubtedly an entrepreneur; you own the Jamaican Fusion Catering business and food truck named That Jerk Spot. Tell us about the Chef K Experience.
LH: ‘Chef K’s Experience‘ answers the appetite for a grandma’s touch. (Comfort) Chef K’s experience brings consistent comfort to the appetite through food and service (hospitality). I cook from my heart. If a customer comes to fill their appetite with a ‘Chef K Cooking Experience,’ they will be fed with a consistent taste that supersedes their expectations every time.
The Chef K cooking experience class is a way to get everyone involved who likes to eat and cook. I want to make it fun, so I first wanted to promote it as a date night experience. Couples are cooking and having fun creating something good together. Next, I will open the experience to individuals wanting cooking lessons and private group events. I’ve received so many inboxes for these classes, so why not give the people what they want?
“I pray HOPES goes around this world.”
C50: What is the HOPES program, and how does it ease the restaurant industry’s labor crunch?
LH: HOPES partners utilize the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation Restaurant
ready training framework to equip individuals 18 years of age and older who are currently in correctional facilities, on parole/probation, or with former justice involvement, with job and life skills necessary to pursue employment opportunities in the restaurant and foodservice industry.
HOPES helps them secure industry-recognized credentials (such as SERV Safe) and gain employment in a local restaurant and food service establishment. In addition, the NRAEF and its network of community-based organizations and state restaurant associations work with employers and partnering organizations to help further HOPES participants’ professional training and education through connections to credentials and apprenticeship programs.
I am one of those organizations that work with HOPES through my program Rise Above the Ordinary- a four-week mentorship program for at-risk youth—inspiring the next generation of Chefs and Entrepreneurs in the Food Service and Hospitality industry.
C50: Lakisha, what is one of your all-time favorite dishes you like to make?
LH: One of my all-time favorite dishes to make is Tuna. It’s funny, but I’m serious. Only some people can make good tuna. My grandmother made the best tuna, and my aunt made it exactly like my grandmother; now, I do it the same way. It’s nothing too radical or different from others, except it’d just be good and better than anyone else’s.
C50: What would you say to a teen or young adult who has lost their way and is not feeling the
typical high school journey?
LH: I would tell them to choose wisely. Your choices and how you respond to situations today will affect your future. Remember that although you’re going through a lot, and it seems unbearable to handle, your purpose is out here trying to find you. Be find-able. Stay in a place to be seen by another choice and another chance. Your purpose is right around the corner, ready to meet you.
C50: Why is it important for our teens to feel that they belong to something in this world and what is the importance of their appearance in this world?
LH: The Bible tells us that the young will lead the old, and our sons and daughters will dream dreams and prophecies. The world is in their hands now. My question to them is, What will you do with it? Are you going to drop the ball? My prayer is, don’t drop us! They were created to carry the world. Therefore they can do it, but if those before them don’t show them, if we don’t impart and give instructions on how to do it, then yes, they will drop us and will drop us hard.
We must first listen to their opinion and their way of understanding how to do things, then build a relationship for them to trust us and the process of leading and guiding. Showing our youth that we believe in them and trust them to do it. Hold them accountable to the kingship they’ve inherited. We have to be around to show and tell them. Impartation and Affirmation are what our young men need. Identification and assurance are what our young ladies need.
As far as, what is the importance of their appearance in this world? It is natural for teens to care
more about appearance, and adults should learn to accept that and guide them correctly. If they think the teens are paying too much attention to appearance. First, however, youth must understand the importance of appearance also.
It is essential because appearance identifies who you are and how others perceive you. The youth must realize that they’re a royal priesthood (the power and authority of God). Kings and gods don’t come outside looking any kind of way. They’re careful that their persona exemplifies them. It tells their excellency and who they are without anyone having to say it.
If a youth come to me for a job not groomed (pants sagging, bad hygiene, hair not combed, shirt wrinkled, and nails dirty ), I’m not hiring you. Why? Because nothing about your appearance exemplifies excellence; everything I just mentioned tells me that you don’t care, and if you don’t care about how you represent yourself, then you won’t care how you represent my business.
I teach my son that appearance matters. Posture, hairstyle, clothing, and attitude reveal a lot about us. This non-verbal communication is powerful and tells a story about who we are, how we relate to others, and how we feel about ourselves. And it’s not superficial. It conveys information about you. Like it or not, people judge us, and we judge ourselves based on our appearance. And it goes both ways. When we know we look good, we also feel good. Sitting up straight and standing tall makes you feel more powerful and sharp.
Young ladies sitting upright with two feet on the ground and outstretched arms in a high-power pose will help you feel strong and confident. It gives that vibe that you belong here too. It’s all in the appearance you give to show others.
C50. You’re not a life counselor; however, you wear another diva hat by holding not 1 but 2 degrees in religious and ministry studies, and you’re an elder at your church. How do you find the time to balance your demanding days as a school teacher and work at the church while raising two boys?
LH: Every day is different; life happens every day, so I adjust to it. I had to learn to go with the flow, and it’s okay. Although it’s a lot sometimes, I look at my boys when it’s over, and they’re good. I’m tired, but they’re good and proud of their mommy. I’m proud of their mommy; God and family keep me leveled and balanced. Knowing that I have help and a village I can call on when it becomes too much. I find my sounding board in my village of family and friends. I’m reminded that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phillippians 4:13. I promise you I have to remind myself of this often, but the main thing is that it’s all doable! I’m careful not to drown myself in a teaspoon of water. There are no excuses. I know many out there have worse situations and worse cases than I who are pushing through, and then I push through.
C50: Lastly, why do you feel it’s important to give back to our youth within the community?
LH: It’s important because this could have been a very different conversation and interview. My culinary teacher and other teachers in Englewood, and people in my community poured into me. It was something to learn and see that so many prayed for me and other youths without us even knowing. It takes a village. I remember a man named Michael Simmons, whose now Pastor Michael Simmons, 
saw me fight daily in grammar school. He’d encourage me to be better than I was, showing me to find better things to do with my time than fighting all the time. He would laugh and joke as I found myself laughing and smiling; he said, “see, it’s okay to laugh instead of looking mean and fighting all the time.” While waiting for his little children to get out of school, one day, he saw me getting ready to fight; something drew me to see if Michael Simmons was around, and he was. The disappointment on his face convicted me to the point where I walked away from the fight and many more. As a community, we must give back what was instilled in us. We have gifts and talents that were meant to be used inside the four walls and outside the four walls. I have to help; it’s in me to help, it’s my responsibility to help, it’s my passion to help, and it’s my calling to help my community.
Bonus question
C50: Lakisha, tell the C50 readers where they can find ‘That Jerk Spot’ food truck around Chicagoland to get some of that delicious food, so they can experience and savor the unconquerable Chef K. Also, let us know when to expect to partake in the Chef K, Cooking experience.
LH: Coming Soon!!!! You can find That Jerk Spot on 103rd and Sangamon Street and 146th and
Western in Dixmoor, IL. The cooking experience cooking class should be ready to go by Spring time. Locations will be disclosed to those registered only.
C50: There you have it, Golden Divas and Divos. God is so awesome! He uses our life experiences, and He molds us so that we can help others in our life journey. LaKisha Hunter is a remarkable soul who has been blessed with the hand of God guiding her footsteps.
Golden Divas & Divos, what is your lifeline to surviving and thriving?
Sources:
National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF)
ProStart
http://ChooseRestaurants.org/ProStart
To hear LaKisha talk about the HOPE program, check out her video here below: