Meet DeMisha Jefferson | Chef, Entrepreneur & HR Admin. Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with DeMisha Jefferson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi DeMisha, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wanted to provide a service that most people dread having to do daily or weekly! To provide people with more time to spend doing what they want or love by doing what I love which is cooking. I also saw how my mother and grandmother would cook for their family and turn around to cook for other families with no type of financial return. At first I didn’t understand why they would take their talents and not find a way to benefit from it, not realizing that they were doing it from the heart. I too cook from the heart but I also wanted my talents to be lucrative.

What should our readers know about your business?
Outta Da Kitchen (ODK) is a meal preparation and catering business designed to satisfy your food needs. The thing that sets ODK apart from other businesses in this field is that we work with the client to customize meals based on their needs. The client and I work together to discuss substitutions and adjustments that will provide them with their requested dietary restrictions or dietary needs. Other businesses tend to only provide what is offered on their menu with limited availability for accommodations. I am most proud of how far I have come on this entrepreneurial journey. I started out not knowing which direction to move in when it came to the food business and it took certain people coming into my life to help me gain a sense of direction. When I first decided to join the food industry, I wanted a restaurant but soon discovered that the overhead cost was mind-boggling. I then thought about a food truck but did not want to be limited to a certain type of food which is so often a characteristic for food trucks. I began weekly meal preparations for my family in order to be more cost effective and to assist my husband with his fitness goals. Every week, I was trying out new recipes to change up our normal routine while still maintaining the dietary restrictions that my husband needed. I would bring my lunch to work every day and my meals became a topic of discussion amongst my co-workers. They expressed that they would love to try my food and would inquire if I made the food for the entire week, to which I would reply “yes.” This came across as favorable amongst my co-workers because many of them did not enjoy cooking but wanted to avoid spending excessive amounts of money each day for lunch at work. Based on the feedback I received, I began to shift my original vision for my food business and began to research more recipes but I still needed help, thus the ODK Dream Team was born. The ODK Dream Team really aided in helping me gain traction on this journey. If it wasn’t for them, I would probably still be in one spot spinning my mental wheels. It was not easy to get to where I am today. Most of the initial challenges surrounded determining a menu for the business and how the business would be structured. A lot of the challenges were overcome by holding think tank(s) and business plan meetings with members of the ODK Dream Team. Some of the challenges are still being worked through because the business is still in growth mode. The lesson I’ve learned along the way is that it does take a village/multiple perspectives to assist in making a business come to life. I would like the world to know that turning something I love into a business was the best thing for me. I am passionate about what I do, about ODK as a brand, and most importantly, my customers. This passion I have gives me fulfillment every time I am preparing food and/or reading my customers’ reviews about their order(s).

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would go out to Washington, DC to enjoy the DC social life. U St. is where I would take them for night life festivities, as well as good late night eats. I would specifically take them to a location called Halfsmoke on U St. which is a restaurant that gives 80s and 90s vibes and the customers can play board games for hours. We would do Farmers, Fishers, Bakers in Georgetown for brunch. Perhaps we would venture to do a little more adult like entertainment and dining at SAX Restaurant & Lounge. We would spend a day at the National Harbor riding the Freedom Wheel and taking in the sites. We would also go to the MGM to visit their casino, restaurant, bar(s), and lounges. We would go to the various museums and to see the national landmarks throughout DC. To top the trip off, we would go to the Outlets located in the National Harbor to do some retail therapy and grab some sweets from IT’SUGAR.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to shoutout to my financial investors, Christiana Burton and Donnel Floyd for providing me with the opportunity to showcase my talents in their lounge & bar. Shoutout to the Outta Da Kitchen Dream Team who has been supporting me since before O.D.K was a thing. Shout out to my husband and my kiddos, Malcolm and Imani for being my test subjects lol. Shoutout to my parents and sibling for being supportive on this journey! A special special shoutout goes out to Britt Thompson who recommended me for this wonderful opportunity to be recognized in Shoutout DFW

Website: www.odkfood.com

Instagram: outta_da_kitchen

Image Credits
Chef photo by Eric Jenifer