At first, Brigitte Harris didn’t know that the entrepreneurship pathway would lead her to make her dreams a reality. After completing her sentence, she envisioned a fresh start and a career she could be proud of, with a goal set on carpentry. Determined to rebuild her life, she began apprenticeship, but soon developed a health issue that disrupted her plans, requiring her to reconsider her path forward.
As Brigitte began applying to jobs, she quickly encountered barriers of discrimination, repeatedly met with rejection. Even for a city role like cleaning up parks and graffiti, she was turned down, often due to her past. Prospective employers fixated on the same type of questions, asking how long had she been incarcerated or the reason she had been incarcerated. Brigitte began to wonder, If she couldn’t get this job, what kind of job am I qualified for?
Back in 2012, Brigitte had met Defy graduate Sharon Richardson, who successfully launched her own business and nonprofit organization to help formerly incarcerated individuals start a career in the food industry. Sharon helped Brigitte in her transition, teaching her the basics of the food business through her organization. Brigitte began to consider her own strengths, especially her cooking skills, and memories of her mother running her own cooking business in Liberia came flooding back. Cooking was not only a skill but a source of joy and familiarity as well. She also noticed there was a gap in New York for African food, particularly West African and Liberian cuisine.
With her mind set, Brigitte decided to launch her own food truck, Bridge’s Kitchen, serving authentic Liberian cuisine. However, her journey faced another hurdle: navigating the costly and complex food truck permit process. She had a clear vision and a thorough plan, including the exact location of her food truck, but there were more requirements than she had anticipated. While registering her business took only 10 minutes, the permit process involved additional steps with the Department of Health, which involved a rigorous inspection process. In addition, securing insurance before she could operate her business inside the truck, presented an additional financial cost. Despite the obstacles, Brigitte pressed on, and in 2023, she finally obtained her food truck permit. Her food business has expanded from her food truck to include catering, online delivery, and rentalable event space where she offers cooking classes and produces cooking how-to-videos.
Brigitte credits much of her success to Defy. Through Defy’s post-release program, she was equipped not only with the skills to write a business plan but also a “life plan” to guide her through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. After completing other online entrepreneurship courses, Defy’s Bootcamp and Pre-Accelerator programs were the final step to get her business off the ground. Brigitte describes it as a “deep dive” that gave her the skills and guidance to truly launch. Defy helped her understand how to listen to what people want, and filling in these gaps has helped her build a business people are excited to support.
For Brigitte, starting her business has been a major victory, especially after the setbacks she faced in seeking employment. Due to another medical setback, Brigitte is on leave and taking a break from operating her business. Looking ahead, Brigitte has ambitious goals. She dreams of expanding her food truck to new locations, connecting more communities with West African cuisine, and collaborating with other businesses. She envisions having land in Liberia to grow her ingredients. And, she wants to work with her local community to offer youth cooking classes, hoping to inspire young people to learn and explore the joy of cooking.
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