Archive of ‘Inspiration’ category

Made for This: Dre Foster makes good on cooking up Birmingham restaurant for dad

Dre Foster and her father, Andre Craig, had always talked about owning a restaurant. But he died in 2016 before they could make the dream a reality. Today, Dre is pushing to make their dream a reality as she works to open The Preservery Birmingham restaurant in the city's Five Points South area. (Photos: Special)

Dre Foster and her father, Andre Craig, had always talked about owning a restaurant. But he died in 2016 before they could realize their dream. Today, Dre is pushing toward their goal as she works to open The Preservery Birmingham restaurant in the city’s Five Points South area. Pictured is Dre’s sweet potato cheesecake with toffee bits, maple bourbon syrup and maple mascarpone. On the right is her five spice duck with braised baby bok choy, a corn fritter cake and pickled watermelon radish. (Photos: Special)

Starting today, “Made for This” is my new series that highlights people answering the call to do what they were born  to do. To be considered for a profile, please email me at chandatemple@gmail.com with details on why you were “made” for what you are doing today. 

By Chanda Temple

Dre Foster and her dad often talked about running a restaurant. He loved to cook and so did she. So, in Dre’s mind, they’d be perfect partners after she retired one day.

But the dream of father and daughter running a business never happened. In 2015, Dre’s father, Andre Craig, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He passed the day after Thanksgiving 2016. He was 57.

Dre was devastated and left with a new look on life: Life is short and she could no longer ignore what had been eating at her all these years. She was made to run a restaurant.

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Your gifts will make room for you

By Chanda Temple 

Have you ever received news so good that it eft you weak in the knees? That happened to me today after receiving a text from a friend.

Her text: “I just saw this. Very cool to see you guys on this list.” She was referring to Birmingham News photojournalist Tamika Moore and me making the “50 Black Southern Belles in Lifestyle: African American Tastemakers of the South.”  After reading  her message, I was like, “Wait! What! Really?”

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Motivation Monday: Don’t be better. Be the best.

Martell and Melody S. Holt of Holt and Holt Entrepreneurship (Photo by: Chanda Temple)

Martell and Melody S. Holt of Holt and Holt Entrepreneurship in Huntsville, Ala.  (Photo by: Chanda Temple)

 

 

By Chanda Temple 

How good are you at what you do? Are you so good that if a consumer approached one of your competitors, the competition would send them your way because they knew you were the best?

It may seem like a far-fetched concept but there’s nothing wrong in wanting this for your business. It only helps you grow, according to Melody S. Holt of Holt and Holt Entrepreneurship, which she runs with her husband, Martell, in Huntsville, Ala.

Such advice is what she shared this weekend as one of the speakers at the Sixth Annual Hair and Health Expo in Birmingham. She opened up her speech with “Are you hungry for success?” Turns out people were. Here are six nuggets she served piping hot  …

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Motivation Monday: How burgers, bundt cakes and broken pieces made my birthday

Burgers, bundt cakes and broken pieces are a good combo for a birthday.

Burgers, bundt cakes and broken pieces are a good combo for a birthday.

By Chanda Temple

For the last few years, I’ve treated my birthday like any other day.

No fanfare. No cake. No song and dance.

While friends offered to take me out, I dismissed the invites, saying, “Thank you. You are so sweet, but I’m working on my birthday.” It wasn’t that I dreaded getting older, it was just that I looked at my birthday as another day. No biggie.

This year, I took a different approach. I saw my birthday as the big deal it was. I welcomed it with open arms. That move has been the best decision I’ve made so far in 2017.

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Winning is what happens when you have hope and faith

Ramsay High School Coach Reuben Nelson (Photo: Via Facebook)

Ramsay High School Coach Rueben Nelson Jr.  (Photo: Via Facebook)

By Chanda Temple 

After a 36-year absence, varsity football returned to Birmingham’s Ramsay High School in 2012.

But the stats looked bleak. Ramsay won only one game that year. One.

Coach Rueben Nelson Jr. never let the losses discourage him, though. He knew greater things were coming.

“It was rough, but we kept going,” Nelson said. “I would always tell them (the team) to keep working, keep working, keep working.”

And work, they did.

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Stop waiting for everything to be so dang perfect

 

Hard word takes dedication.

Hard word takes dedication.

 

 

By Chanda Temple

As women, we feel the need to have everything perfect. And if it’s not perfect, we won’t proceed. That even comes down to our blogs. If our websites are not perfect, if our photos are not perfect, if our products are not perfect, yada, yada, yada, we won’t launch it. We’ll keep it close to the vest and wait until it’s perfect before we share it with others.

Well, stop trying to make everything so dang perfect. “Sometimes, good is good enough,” a woman said on a blogging webinar I tuned in to tonight. ‘’The most important thing is to act.”

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Motivation Monday: Don’t whine for it. Grind for it.

In life, there will be disappointments, some of which will make you feel like crying. But the best way to bounce back is to dry those tears, pick yourself up and figure out a new way to make your flop fly. Don't whine for it. Grind for it.

In life, there will be disappointments, some of which will make you feel like crying. But the best way to bounce back is to dry those tears, pick yourself up and figure out a new way to get to your happy. It will be hard to start again. But know this: You must. When you feel like stopping, remember why you started. It wasn’t to fall flat and hang low with the pigeons. It was to soar and fly high with the eagles. This, you can do.   (Image by Dustin Iskandar via Flickr)

 

 

 

Are you ready to jump?

Fear is the best motivator. Do it scared.

Fear is the best motivator. Do it scared. Your gift will make room for you.

 

By Chanda Temple 

A few days ago, a friend was at a crossroads as he debated what to do next in his career.

He wanted to play it safe by staying in his current position instead of branching out and starting his own business. Unsure of what to do, another friend suggested he watch a popular video by talk show host and Family Feud game show host Steve Harvey. In it, Harvey challenges his Family Feud audience to jump off the cliff of life into their destiny when they are contemplating a major move.

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