Meet LaJuane’ Ford of Finna-Eat

Today we’d like to introduce you to LaJuane’ Ford.

Hi LaJuane’, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Finna Eat started with my grandmother Shirley Mae Baptiste. Shirley was 100% a Louisiana woman in every regard so much so she always had a hot meal ready just in case someone stopped by. She was an absolute angel in life and in the kitchen. She ran a daycare out of the finished basement in her home and cooked breakfast, lunch and a snack for the children. For some of those kids, the only hot meals they received was at daycare. My grandmother was a pillar in her community and the matriarch of our family. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2017 but her legacy of good food, service and entrepreneurship lived on.

Finna Eat was born in 2019 while playing around with fried chicken recipes together as a family. Since then we have participated in numerous festivals in both Atlanta and Louisiana where we have continued to show growth by diversifying our menu while keeping true to our Cajun roots. As of a couple of weeks ago, we have food trailer and cannot wait to debut it around the city!

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?
Nothing about operating a business is easy but nothing easy is worth having! There have been so many roadblocks, one of the biggest being COVID-19. We did our first festival just a month before the world shut down. So we were at a standstill-without a trailer to run or events to vend in…it was difficult feeling like you’ve lost complete control over your dream. But something told us to keep breaking down barriers.

As you know, we’re big fans of Finna-Eat LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are black-owned, family-run and we make some damn good food! Our roots are cajun but draw inspiration from trips we’ve taken together around the world as a family so a few of our dishes pay homage to Asian cuisine.

How do you think about luck?
We don’t really believe in luck over here! We work hard and put out good in the world and somehow someway we’ve received nothing but blessings in return!

Contact Info:

• Email: finnaeatfoods@gmail.com
• Website: www.finna-eat.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/finnaeatfoods