Today we’d like to introduce you to Leanah.
Hi Leanah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Some of my first memories are in the kitchen. My Aunt Daisy was a self taught Chef, and ran a successful gourmet cheesecake business in Hollywood, California.
My sister and I were her unhappy little helpers in the kitchen as children. We hated helping ! We spent days on end helping prep for every family holiday and for her cheesecake business. I remember feeling that it was so unfair that no one else had to help.
It wasn’t until after becoming a mother, and after her passing that I realized what a blessing it was to have been able to learn so much from Aunt Daisy.
I come from a multi cultural background, my mother is half Japanese and half Native American and my father was Colombian. My grandmother from my mother’s side came from a family of 18 ,all of her siblings married people of Mexican descent.
With that being said, food at our holidays looked very different.
I bar tended up and down the coast of California and dabbled in mixology in Malibu until Covid hit and we were forced to stay home.
Due to the stay at home order during Covid, there was an extreme shortage of food deliveries for “ essential workers”.
I began sending extra food with my husband to take to work to sell to his coworkers. I would say this was a pivotal moment in the creation of, “ Mama Lana’s”.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth journey: I’ve made many mistakes, but have made an effort to learn from these mistakes.
My biggest obstacle has been figuring out all of the different taxes that a small business is responsible for.
Sales and use tax, unemployment tax, all of the different filings for identification numbers that I didn’t even know existed!
These are just a few that I can think of, but there are definitely more taxes and permits food businesses are responsible for.
We’ve been impressed with Mama Lana’s LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Mama Lana’s LLC is the umbrella company for multiple food businesses that I have.
It started out with “ Mama Lana’s Kitchen”-my catering business that specializes in ethnic street foods and comfort foods for any occasion.
Mama Lana’s Grub Hall is my brick and mortar Italian food establishment that specializes in made from scratch Italian cuisines with an all under $10 menu.
Mahalo Mamas is my most recent pop up food establishment that prepares and serves Hawaiian BBQ at festivals and local events.
Mama Lana’s kitchen was established in 2022. Mama Lana’s grub hall was established in 2023. Since then The Grub Hall has won 2 consecutive “ Taste of Morristown” competitions , has been awarded the “ Horizon” award by the Morristown Chamber of Commerce, and was recently nominated for “Tennessee Best”.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Mama-Lanas.com
- Instagram: Mama_lanas_kitchen.instagram.com
- Other: Mama_lanas_grub_hall.instagram..com
