Meet Tia Rodriguez | Chef Brown Sugar Vgan Owner @ Urban Soul Market

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

Hi Tia, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
My favorite quote is, “You can rise up from anything. You can completely recreate yourself. Nothing is permanent. You are not stuck. You have choices. You can think new thoughts. You can learn something new. You can create new habits. All that matters is that you decide today and never look back.”

I love this quote because it defines my journey on so many levels. In 2016 I began the journey of completely recreating who I define as myself. I was severely overweight, pre-diabetic, suffering from fibroids, depression and I finally got to my lowest point. I began manifesting a healthier, happier version of me and began my vegan lifestyle by creating new habits backed by rituals. I never looked back and here I am a whole vegan chef leading people down the same path of healing.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The art of food has become my love language and I find myself so obsessed with not only creating delicious food but providing delicious sustainable food options. What sets us apart from other plantbased brands is that our focus is not necessarily vegan consumers. Our focus is to create an experience for non vegans who have never tried plantbased food. I began doing this way before Urban Soul was thought of. I’d invite people over for dinner and serve them a delicious 3 course meal, wait until they finished and then let them know they just had an entire vegan meal, needless to say they were floored. The meal was so good it would stay on their mind, that experience never left them. We decided to start small selling plates out the house. It grew so fast that I needed a commercial kitchen 3 months in. Although I have a corporate background and I’m an entrepreneur at heart, this business has been the most challenging because I have no formal culinary training. I knew absolutely nothing about the restaurant industry. The food industry is a whole nother type of beast. Every detail has to be seamless to have a successful operation. Vince and I wore all the hats in the beginning. I cooked, taught him how to be my prep cook, ran the website, marketing, menus, answered phones, logistics, inventory, it’s no joke. The most challenging thing we did was start a yearly healthy sustainable initiative to provide 100% plantbased Thanksgiving meals for our community. Vince and I traveled all oover San Antonio last year delivering a holiday meals and it was amazing to see just how many people wanted to participate in a cruelty free Thanksgiving. This year we will have a delivery service take on that task but we are so excited for the turn out. One important thing I learned is perseverance. We wanted this so bad for our community we barely slept. I ate, slept and breathed this brand. Challenges are overcome with time and experience. You have to be willing to put in the work. I’m most proud of our accomplishments, in the midst of our learning curve, and in a tiny commercial kitchen with no lobby we became best place to eat vegan in the city among many other features in magazines and we were voted top 2 best vegan soulfood in the city.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a friend was visiting, I would invite them to the hash vegan eats. Take them to the pearl brewery to walk under the bridges on the river walk to enjoy the hidden art you can’t see if you take the boat taxi. I would take them to a yoga session at third eye healing and then to grab a fresh juice from squeezers. I’m pretty simple lol.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Man! Shoutout to the vegan documentaries I watched that helped me begin my journey. I watched so many documentaries religiously that helped me transition to plantbased eating. Shoutout to the local vegan business owners who offer support and mentorship and to our patrons who support our brand. Shoutout to Vincent Boyd who is a day one at Urban Soul, none of this operation would be possible without his efforts behind the scenes.

Website: urbansoulmarket.com

Instagram: @urbansoulmarket

Facebook: @urbansoulmarket

Youtube: Coming soon @urbansoulmarket