Today we’d like to introduce you to Carmen Settles.
Hi Carmen, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My journey actually started off from the encouragement of friends and family pushing me to do more with my talents. Somehow, someway I was going to be a millionaire selling wings lol! I haven’t quite hit that mark yet however I am doing way more than just my original plan. We offer Private Chef service, cooking classes, birthday/special event celebrations, dinner parties, etc.
My father taught me how to grill and my mother showed me how to prepare more traditional Southern foods, so I got to experience the best of both worlds! I never knew that my passion for cooking would actually turn into a successful business. I received my degree in Marketing from North Carolina Central University which has definitely helped me leverage my business with new and innovative ideas to put my company on the map.
Even though we have been in operation for about eight years, I still look forward to all of the new opportunities that will be coming our way!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My mother always said “Struggling builds character” I believe that completely. There were times where I knew things were going to go right and they totally didn’t. For example, when I first wanted the food truck, I applied for an SBA loan to finance the truck. I was denied because I had recently purchased a house so I needed a co-signer. Of course, I asked my mother and she told me in the most caring mom way ever…..no. At the time she wasn’t convinced that I was really serious about this new hobby of mine. I had to prove to her that this was the first time in my life that I wanted to make something work this bad. We made a compromise and she helped me with a smaller loan, however I was responsible for anything else over that amount. Eventually, things worked itself out and I got the truck and Full Street was officially up and running!
If it wasn’t for those first couple of months/years of struggling to figure things out, asking questions, using resources and truly understanding what it is I was about to get myself into. I don’t think we would be where we are now. There are plenty of other examples of the things we went through at that time but I would say I wouldn’t change anything about it. Those times helped me push to a more positive outlook on the things that I got accomplished.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
When we first started, we specialized in grilled gourmet chicken wings. Since then our menu has expanded to much more than just wings! You name it, we pretty much do it all.
I would say the thing that sets us apart from others is the fact that we offer a variety of different menus, setups and services. A client can literally use me multiple times and never get the same food or setup. We customize each client’s event so we’re not always doing the same thing.
I am very pleased to be a preferred vendor for some local businesses, school systems and Universities in the area. This allows our business to be used where not a lot of African American vendors are represented.
How do you think about happiness?
As a caterer, the main thing that makes me happy is knowing that I made a dish and my client is enjoying it. That instant gratification of knowing that I caused that is just the icing on the cake! Oh yeah, another thing that makes me happy is food. Yep, I am a foodie! I enjoy everything about it, we can get as casual as gas station fried chicken to a 3 Michelin star restaurant! I’m with it all!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fullstreetwings.com
- Instagram: @fullstreetwings
- Facebook: /FullStreetWings
- Twitter: @fullstreetwings
