The aura surrounding the new Soul Daddy restaurant in New York City was electric, brimming with the personality of newly minted restauranteur Jamawn Woods. Woods effortlessly posed for pictures, signed autographs for fans, and managed requests from the press. Yet, the winner of NBC’s America’s Next Best Restaurant was also all about his business, tending to various tasks as diners enjoyed his healthy soul food — the stellar concept that won the judges over.
After facing unemployment, and catering for six months out of his home, Woods won a spot on the reality series based on pictures from his Facebook page. Now this Detroit native is living his dream of providing nourishing comfort food to the masses through Soul Daddy locations in Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York. Woods took a break from serving and greeting to share insights on his miraculous transition with BlackEnterprise.com. –Alexis Stodghill
What was it like being on America’s Next Best Restaurant?
It was a good experience; but at the same time, it was stressful for the simple fact that you are cut off from the world. A lot of people don’t know that about reality TV. That part was stressful, but worth it.What was your greatest lesson learned?
Be yourself, no matter what. That’s something Bobby Flay told me. You have to be yourself so people can identify with your restaurant. That’s one of the reasons why I am receiving so much love from the people. They feel at home when they meet me.
What was the greatest challenge you faced in the catering business?
The biggest challenge was money. It takes money to start anything. I wasn’t employed, so I just stepped out on faith, scraped up all the money I had, and bought the supplies I needed. God blessed me and kept money coming in.
How does making the transition to being a large restauranteur feel?
It feels great, of course. To have a chain of restaurants, three restaurants in three different cities, to have employees working for you, it’s amazing. Just to watch my crew work feels good!
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The Soul Daddy company put my team together. The judges are also investors, and they knew what would happen when someone without management experience won, so they made a plan and made sure I had a team around me. I had the option to just be a founder–be the face of it and not work –or be inside the restaurant and work, [which is] what I wanted to do. I have a general manager I’m training under as an assistant general manager. Then I can become the general manager of whatever restaurant I move to. That will be my role, but I’m also the Soul Daddy founder.
How did you come up with the idea of “healthy soul foodâ€?
I learned to be conscious about healthy food on the show. Sometimes African-Americans don’t care enough about what we eat. We want to make it taste good, throw some of that bacon grease on there, all that. Once I got on the show, Lorena [one of the judges] brought up this point. She really liked the concept of soul food, but it’s heavy in calories. That really woke me up. I thought, “I’ve got to do something about this.†That made me start doing my research.
Speaking of healthy food, what do you think of First Lady Michelle Obama’s healthy eating programs?
That’s one of my ultimate goals, to reach out to First Lady Michelle Obama. I would love to have her try out Soul Daddy to show that I see her vision. America does need to eat healthier.
Is the name Soul Daddy inspired by your father?
Definitely. All my love for cooking came from my dad. He always had a little saying: “Never depend on a woman to cook for you.†It’s no knock towards any woman.
It’s just for the simple fact that if your woman gets mad at you, and you can’t cook, what are you going to eat? It always stuck in my head and I always watched my dad in the kitchen.Being from Detroit, what do you think of the difficult economic situation there?
I love my city. I’m hoping that my story and the little success that I’m gaining can help inspire the people of Detroit to want to do better and bring our city back to the old Motown days.
What’s next for Jamawn Woods?
I’m just focused on these three restaurants. It’s hard when you’re running one restaurant. Now I have three. So I’m focused on these three, making sure they’re up and running, and that they’re a success.