Written by Nyle Paul
Over the past 18 years, Nadege Fleurimond has served as a change-maker with her talents as chef, entrepreneur, author, and business strategist.
Using her background in Haitian cuisine, Fleurimond utilizes a plethora of flavors from different cultures such as: Latin-American, European, and Asian cuisines. She implements this diversity into her events, which not only encouraging more conversations around diversity, but also encouraging a celebration and unification among people of all backgrounds.
Fleurimond’s catering business has been used by Al-Jareau, Columbia University, Ann-Hauser Busch, BET News, The Colbert Report, and the White House. She has also catered Dr. Oz’s Healthcorps organization.
Nadege has written two books, “Taste of Life” and “Haiti Uncovered.”
“Taste of Life” serves as both a cookbook and memoir. The book not only offers recipes that showcase the beauty of food — but it is a humorous journey into the life of Nadege Fleurimond. The project takes readers along her journey as she navigates through the world of food. Her latest, “Haiti Uncovered,” is a cookbook that invites readers to indulge in the art and beauty of both Haiti and its cuisine.
I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Nadege Fleurimond. We discussed the importance of Black business, the affect that COVID-19 and the heavy racial tensions in U.S. has had on her as a Black business owner, the representation of Black culture in the culinary scene, and her experience as a Black female entrepreneur.
“I know Black business is very important,” said Fleurimond. “Even though I am a business owner, I make it my business to support other Black businesses.”
When asked about her buying routine, “I make it my business to support 1–2 businesses. Even though we, as business owners, own our own individual businesses, our mission tends to be greater than ourselves,” she said.
On her mission as a Black business owner, “we want to create products that uplift our community and culture. We want to create products that inspire others and teach others.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing racial tensions at the hands of police brutality, these past few months have been tiring. These events have attacked people’s mental health and financial stability, especially Black business owners.
“Being quarantined and having to deal with the uncertainty of COVID-19 was trying in itself. Having to deal with the constant barrage of one more incidents, one more murder of someone who looks like me — it took its toll,” said Fleurimond.
“I remember doing a run for Ahmaud, and I was like, ‘I’m tired!’ I was tired of running and always having to prove our humanity. There were days where I couldn’t get out of bed during the pandemic because I couldn’t read another story.”
Fleurimond said even hashtags were daunting. That, paired with the limited amount of business traffic, “left me feeling numb on certain days.”
Pivoting from corporate to entrepreneurship can seem like a risky transition, but it is how you put those opportunities and experiences to use in your business that makes the transition worthwhile. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Nadege was on track to pursue a career in law. She credits her success in her business to what she has learned in the corporate environment.
“I started my business my third year in school and my intention was to go to law school you know as an immigrant and you’re not reared to going to the culinary field, you know?”
The pressure of getting a traditional career is customary with immigrant parents. As Fleurimond says, “The whole premise of you getting a degree, especially to my parent, was kind of like ‘okay, go and be great and become a doctor, lawyer, or an engineer.”
She always loved cooking, but never saw it as a viable career. “For me, food was always a hobby. I’ve grown and elevated on the culinary scene part and it could have probably happened sooner had I accepted it lot sooner because it took coming to terms for myself to accept it as the chip profession.”
Fleurimond was a political science major at Columbia. The next step, naturally, was law school. “When I worked in government for congresswoman Yvette Clarke, I was just like ‘Okay, you know this is the path to be a lawyer, perhaps even one day being a judge or whatever it may be.’ I’m grateful for the path because I always tell people every experience just prepares you; it is a steppingstone for the next one.”
The culinary master is grateful for the corporate experience. “It helped me establish the systems I needed to establish within my own business. On the networking perspective, I still cater for City Hall, different government officials, and different firms that I’ve worked with in other capacities because of those relationships that I established then.”
Fleurimond utilizes her Haitian background as a guide to shine a light on flavors and cuisines from other cultures around the world. She shares her culinary gifts with the purpose of inspiring others to follow their passions, motivate people to have conversations regarding diversity, and unifying diverse crowds.
“I grew up in Brooklyn with a single father who is Haitian. I was Haitian in my household, but I was wasn’t Haitian in school. When I got to college, that’s when I became super Haitian because I was in an environment where there were very few Haitians, funny enough,” said Fleurimond.
“A couple of things happen when you attend predominantly white universities: it’s either try to assimilate as much as possible, or you become super Black power. So, I became super Haitian because I also realize that’s what made me unique, that’s what made me special, and that’s what they different. I also wanted other people to experience that specialness and uniqueness. I used food as the tool to do that.
For centuries, the representation of Black culinary culture in America has often times been labeled with ridiculed. Nadege touched on the current representation of Black culinary culture, and the weight it carries in the current culinary scene.
“As it relates to Black people, we always set the trends. We have always created the trends. We’ve always been the ones who have initiated and created, but that doesn’t mean we’re necessarily the ones who get the credit, right? So, I think there’s more representation happening,” said Fleurimond. “But if we’re also honest with ourselves, and I’ll speak from an immigrant experience, I think there’s a value that we, as a community, didn’t give our cuisine, which is now shifting. I think newer generation chefs are understanding the value of those traditional, historical dishes, and are saying ‘Yeah, I could serve my chicken and waffles in an elegant event with my collard greens. I can serve my grits, and it’s okay.’ I know as a Haitian person, and I’ve seen it in other cultures, that there are certain foods we didn’t give weight to because we considered them to be not elegant enough or not presentable.”
When you look at most of the Italian food or cuisine that’s revered, these were the traditional peasant dishes. “Ossobuco, which is like a lamb dish that you could probably pay like $60 or $70 for out of a restaurant, was originally what poor people used to eat instead of selling because it took forever to cook and had to have that nice slow braising process,” she says. “But now there’s value in that, so it’s all a matter of understanding how you could shoot the narrative and use those that that tradition as a way of sharing your story end in making others appreciated but that appreciation also has to come from us as well which is something that is happening with Nigerian cuisine Canadian cuisine all sorts of best cuisine and then I think other communities are taking notice as well.”
Fleurimond gives sage advice to future Black business owners on how to operate in a society that is riddled in racial tension.
“I feel like we’re always dealing with something, always dealing with some power that wants to control another. So, we live in America where racism is the overarching evil. Therefore, it’s important to acknowledge it, but you still need to do what you need to do and what you think is going to either tackle that or just put a little dent in it,” said Fleurimond. “Sometimes, we think that we have to build this big mountain, or the mountain have to be fully tapped or knocked out for you to be able to get through. But sometimes the work that you do is what’s going to contribute to that mountain being knocked down.”
Racism is a plague.
“As a Black business owner, when you create from that space of empowerment that contribution is needed in the world. So, you can’t let the possibility of failure or the possibility of racism stop you because it’s needed. What you do may be that other little piece of the puzzle that’s needed for someone else to be able to do what they do.”
Like most, Fleurimond grieved the death of Chadwick Boseman, but was inspired by his example.
Chadwick Boseman talked about how Denzel Washington paid for his education, who would’ve known these series of events would have played such a role in terms of this man becoming an actor and making these films that have impacted people. It has impacted how people view themselves, how little kids view themselves. So, the repercussion of one act is going to play out for so long, and it’s the same thing for business owners. Go out there do what you need to do because somebody needs it.”