On September 16, Indy Chamber hosted the “REDi Pitch Night,” a culmination of their five-week ReEntry Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, which offers business training and education to incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated individuals.
Program finalists receive five minutes to pitch their business plan, then answer questions from a panel of judges. The winner is awarded $2,500 to support their business.
Tichina smiles with her REDi Pitch Night winning certificate. Photo by Conrad Piccirillo
This year’s winner is a familiar face for Second Helpings: Tichina Clark, who graduated from our Culinary Job Training (CJT) program in 2017.
After being announced as the winner, Clark fought back tears as she thanked the judges and virtual audience. “Perseverance doesn’t have to stop just because you face challenges and shortcomings. Never give up.”
Clark attributes her sense of perseverance to the Culinary Job Training program, which served as a transformative new beginning for her.
“In 2017, I got into some trouble and all of my options disappeared,” Clark remembers. “Sitting in the Marion County Jail, I wrote a bucket list, and at the top was starting the Second Helpings program.”
Clark began the CJT program less than a month after being released from jail and graduated with Class 98 in September 2017. “When I graduated, I found me again,” Clark celebrates. “I was able to overlook my troubles and look forward.”
Tichina on the day of her graduation from the Culinary Job Training program in 2017.
Since graduating, Clark launched her business, Taste Buddies, LLC, which offers soups, salads, and desserts, all packaged in Mason jars, for pickup or delivery.
One of her recipes is a nod to her time at Second Helpings: her Corn Bacon Green Bean Chowder is based on the corn chowder that earned Clark the Ralph Comstock Soup Award for winning the CJT program’s soup competition.
All her recipes, though, are special. “These recipes tell my family’s stories,” Clark shared in her Pitch Night presentation. “You’ll see – and taste – love, soul, and South.”
For others interested in starting a new path – whether it’s launching a business or finding a fresh start in life, Clark recommends seeking out free community programs like CJT, REDi, or Indiana Plan, which all offered the support she needed to succeed.
Above all, “Don’t be ashamed to tell your story,” Clark suggests. “Just because your cover’s not as impressive as other books, flip it open anyways and see who’ll be ready to turn the page with you.”
As Clark looks forward to growing her business, she continues to use the skills she developed in the Culinary Job Training program – in the kitchen and beyond.
“My persistence, ambition, and drive, all came from Second Helpings. Second Helpings was the steppingstone to get me to Pitch Night, to get me through my time in prison, my first item on my now-completed bucket list. Now I’m writing a second one!”