We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Monique Booker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Monique, really appreciate your meeting with us today to talk about some particularly personal topics. It means a lot because so many in the community are going through circumstances where your insights and experience and lessons might help, so thank you so much in advance for sharing. The first question we have is about divorce and how you overcame divorce and didn’t allow the trauma of divorce to derail your vision for your life and career.
Its 2022 & my son is about to turn 1, you know they all say if you can make it through the first year then you’ll be fine! First year was wonderful we live in LA working at Sony studio, adopted a kitten we named Dunkin then while are in Vegas celebrating our one year anniversary and i get woken up to a phone call that my mum has passed away…we go outside and the TVs are covered with breaking news of Kobe’s helicopter crashing. A week later we make the decision to move back home because this “Covid” thing sounds like it could get dangerous.
Fast forward 3 months & i find out i’m pregnant, at this point we needed that little piece of happiness, till this day i say it was my mum who helped us. We had already been trying for a year and nothing…
Now to the month before our son turns 1 & Covid had already did its damage, there was no going back to the way things were, the way WE were. I would never take back that year we got to stay home with our son and pour every ounce of love and care into him but in doing so we neglected each other and our marriage needs.That being said we made the tough decision to go ahead and get divorced.
After multiple therapy sessions & going through the grieving process of loosing my husband and my marriage, feeling like a failure of a wife and blaming myself for the divorce i realized TWO things. 1. no matter what im a Great Mom & 2. My ex husband is and will always be family & the father to our son, so yeah i might of lost him as a husband but i gained someone i could count on to be there for our son forever, so ill take it!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Hello there, im a very small business owner who just opened her own retail space inside of Hub Hall below the TD Garden in Boston,MA. I focus on the southern cuisine that i grew up eating every Sunday after church, some family recipes and some that i put a little twist on.
I had been doing pop ups in breweries for the last two years and i finally gained the confidence to ask the management at Hub Hall if i could rent a stall, Let’s just say it been a hell of a ride so far!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Patience, Social Media & Faking it until you make it! Honestly there is no secret, just go out, do what you love & figure out a way to get paid doing it.Whats the worst that could happen?
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I would love to collab with other small business women, especially bakers. I cant bake to save my life so if i could find someone to make me baked goodies to sell at my stall i would love that! if that is you please find me on instagram @adrianos_llc
Contact Info:
- Instagram: adrianos_llc
- Facebook: facebook.com/adrianosss
- Linkedin: Chefmobo
