Tulsa Titans

Women experiencing incarceration, especially with violent charges, are often deterred from many places of employment, and even more so with those that offer a decent wage. These women are trying to get their children out of foster care / state custody, but they cannot meet the financial requirements it takes to maintain stable housing and all the expenses that come with it because their charges have disqualified them from the "good jobs." In this trap, the cycle of recidivism begins because society issues a constant reminder of a mistake they may have made, and CONTINUES to punish them, long after they have served their sentence.

Carabelle's was established to bridge the gap between women coming out of incarceration and reintegrating into society by providing not only a job but professional and transferable culinary training. By providing a skill and decent wages to these women, they have the tools to be successful and productive citizens in their community.

Our customers are mostly women, ages 25-65, in Tulsa and the surrounding areas, who want healthier options for their comfort food favorites.

Carabelle's started in January 2020 and has made leaps and bounds in networking, securing a consistent wholesale customer base, and profiting from pop-ups at the Mother Road Market every month since December 2020. We have had a booth at Juneteenth since 2020 and have been able to book catering gigs every month since March 2021. We have also been able to hire one justice-involved woman, besides the owner, part-time. The owner most recently had the opportunity to be a featured chef at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship Dinner in May 2021.

Through my catering company I am able to provide opportunities for others in my community that seek to be in the culinary industry. I am able to teach life skills to others as well as simple mealtime solutions and recipes through my e-cookbook and hardcover cookbook resources.

I have created two books that are for working moms (which is very prevalent within our community) as well those that are seeking easy mealtime solutions. Both resources were created to help others make the best of their trips to the grocery store, as we currently live in a food desert. My e-book includes shopping lists and materials to help with meal planning.

My ideal customer is someone seeking to learn how to be more creative in the kitchen as well as working women of any age who also happen to be mothers. The catering portion of my business tends to lean towards people looking for high-end food experiences.

I host restaurant popup’s monthly and am able to quantify my success based on the increased turnout each month as well as my book sales.

Black women are almost twice as likely as women overall to say that they can’t bring their whole selves to work and more than 1.5 times as likely to say they don’t have strong allies. This greatly impacts the retention and long-term success of companies noting the positive impact and results that come with diversity in the workplace. In "Delivering Through Diversity," McKinnsey & Company reports that companies in the top-quartile for ethnic / cultural diversity on executive teams were 33% more likely to have industry-leading profitability. The case is clear that we need Black women in the workplace and in executive leadership.

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