By Niema Jordan
(This conversation as been edited for length and clarity).
Eleven years ago, Tirzah Love took a leap of faith. Long known as the go-to person in her community for all things good related, she went from blogging about the meals she created to moonlighting as a private chef. But one day, her boss at her day job gave her an ultimatum.
“It was one of those moments where God just whispered to me quick,” she explains. “ I was like, okay, well then I’m going to put in my notice.”
The jump gave her the freedom to design her life and move in alignment with her values: “creativity, collaboration, community and cuisine.” Throughout the years, Love has catered countless events, worked as a private chef for NBA players, and created some of the most amazing culinary experiences.
We sat down with Chef Tirzah Love to discuss her latest venture Soul Box, supporting Black businesses, and self-care as an entrepreneur.
Where does your passion for food come from?
Tirzah Love: My passion for food really is based in getting people together. I really enjoy company, but mostly I enjoy it over a meal. Food is the great connector and everyone eats. If you think about food in terms of life, not only is it our life force, but we use it to celebrate. We use it to mourn, we use it to catch up. We use food as a reason to get together. And so I wanted to be the person who created the thing that got people together.
Tell us about your business, Soul Box.
Tirzah Love: So Soul Box is my pandemic pivot. It is a meal experience kit that features Black-owned, women-owned food artisan. I curate recipes using their ingredients. So each Soul Box comes with a cooking video, conversation cards, a DJ curated playlist, and smallware — like a microplane or a tortilla press.
The purpose of Soul Box is to get people together around the table and evoke the nostalgia of Sunday Supper having a celebratory meal. It serves four people. So cooking for them, having a conversation, having a music to set the vibe is all in the box so you don’t have to think about anything. And it’s really a passion of mine to support other food artisans. We have so many people, not only in our community, but across the states who have food products that deserve to be on every grocery shelf, but they’re just lesser known. So I really enjoy finding them, finding out their story and using their ingredients to curate recipes.
What has been your favorite thing about Soul Box?
Tirzah Love: Honestly, just learning how to build a product-based business has been very exciting for me. I’ve been service-based for the past 11 years now, and I know that I give excellent service and it comes very easy to me to love and nurture people. What’s been exciting is learning how to sell something like an actual product and explain it to people and see people light up and be like, oh yeah, I want that. I really enjoy hearing stories of people like, oh my God, I did my Soul Box last night. I got my family together and this was our experience that has been really great just to hear that I provided something, a simple tool that got people together and they created a loving memory from it.
In addition to Soul Box, you have the Soul Box Supper Club with your Solid Grounds founder, Taylor Nanz. Can you tell us a bit about that event?
Tirzah Love: So I used to have a popup with my cousin called A Beat at the Table. It was a five-course meal with a soundtrack, and she would DJ the event. Then after I left my restaurant, I started Tuesdays with Tirzah, which was a supper club in my home. I would just put a simple call out on Facebook that said, “Hey, if you’re feeling lonely, it’s holiday times, come enjoy a meal with me.” The response was overwhelming. I had people in my house every Tuesday and it was donation based, so people would donate towards the meal and I would cook kind of whatever I wanted, and people would show up and we would have a deep and meaningful conversation. And so it kind of inspired the idea behind Soul Box. I’m like, okay, we have a conversation. We have good food, we have music.
Then Soul Box Supper Club came about, it’s like, maybe I should test these recipes that I’m trying to put in each iteration of the box and try them out on people to see if they actually liked them. So it’s really just to get people’s reaction to the things I’m thinking about trying. It’s also a communal event, and I really love just getting people together with food, as I said at the beginning, and really, I think it just keeps the heartbeat of the company going. I need those little moments of community enjoying my food, trying it, and getting the feedback to know that I’m still on the right path, that I am making things that are evoking a sense of love and community and emotion within people.
This year, you’ve hosted at Town Fare and Kinfolx. Are you always focused on Black-owned restaurants or spaces?
Tirzah Love: Absolutely. I always try to evoke and support really Black-owned locations, Black-owned products, Black chef’s assistance, Black waiters, waitresses, etc. We’re a community and we have to support one another in all facets. I used to work at a Black-led organization and one of the questions they would ask is, “How Black was your dollar today or this week?” I always take pride in saying, my dollar is real Black. I get my earrings, I get my coffee, I got this dashiki, I got this jam, whatever it may be, I’m supporting the people in my community.
You’re part of the Black on Both Sides cohort. Can you share your thoughts on why it’s important for folks to invest in Black creatives?
Tirzah Love: It’s very important for people to invest in Black creatives. Black women in particular only get 3% of VC funding and capital. Most Black people are bootstrapping their business and sacrificing something to build their dream, and so we really need funding to get our ideas out there, especially for creatives. I know that I’ve been in the business for 10, 11 years, so I have business savvy now, I’ll say now, but early on it was really difficult, and if I had the support of a community or the support with Dollars behind me, then I think I would’ve been further faster. And I think that that’s why it’s important to invest in black businesses to support them because, Soul Box as a business, I’ve only raised grant funding for it. I’ve raised about $30,000 in grant funding for Soul Box, and honestly, it doesn’t go that far, right? I’m like, how can I get 100K? How can I get 500K to really make this thing pop the way that I need it to without giving ownership and equity in my company? These are my ideas, it’s my work. I want to keep my company. So grant funding has been the way that I can push the needle forward a little bit, but we really need more investment in Black businesses.
Okay, my last question for you, earlier in our conversation, you talked about just really how being nurturing and creating space for people is very natural to you. How are you creating a nurturing space for yourself? How are you taking care of yourself in the midst of everything?
Tirzah Love: I go hard about me. I wake up and do somatic movement for 20 minutes while listening to affirmations. Then I get on my mat and I pray and I meditate for another 20 minutes. I take a walk outside while listening to a podcast that’s uplifting and encouraging. If I need to, I’ll put on some gospel music or some affirmation music. I get massages often. I dance often. I take time in my day to pause and breathe. I have already done the “grind it out, don’t take care of yourself, work yourself till you’re sick” thing. I’ve done that already, and now I center myself first. If I want to go to sleep, I’m going to sleep. It can get done tomorrow. I know the ramifications of not taking care of myself, and I can see why people are burnt out and depressed because they’re just not filling their own tank and giving from the overflow. And so I preach that. I tell my kids, I tell my friends, I’ll be like, oh, girl, you need to sit down. I’m like, let’s just sit here and breathe. And so many people are like, oh my God, wow, I needed that. I’m like, yeah, you got to slow it down. What are we all racing too? We’re all on our own timelines in our own lanes, and I think we got to stop racing.
Niema Jordan is a writer, speaker, and an award-winning filmmaker from Oakland, CA. She has a passion for character-driven stories and harnessing the power of media for positive community impact.
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