Article by media partner Cuisine Noir, the country’s first Black culinary lifestyle outlet since 2009 dedicated to connecting the African diaspora through food, drink and travel.
When New Orleans native Dominique Charles bought her home in Washington, D.C, her Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. sorority sister brought her a surprise housewarming gift. “She said she needed help bringing my gift in, and I didn’t understand why,” remembers Charles. “Well, she had brought me a starter garden in little terra cotta pots,” Charles smiles.
Though she had been outside on the farm with her Louisiana grandparents as a kid, Charles never had a desire to do any farming or gardening. That was until she received that starter garden in May 2014.
“Later that summer, I was like, ‘Oh, look at my first little green tomato!’ And I was so excited and so joyful about it that I thought, ‘Maybe I do want to give gardening a shot.’”
She continues, “I had built a four-by-four bed and I grew corn,” notes Charles. “And corn is something most people don’t see in urban areas, so people were intrigued. And I put lots of social media engagement behind it because I enjoyed sharing the fruits of my labor.”
Then two friends and sorors suggested she start a business. “I’m shy by nature, but I decided to go for it! And I named my business Plots & Pans after seeing ‘Plots & Plans’ on the cover of a journal that was lying next to my bed.”
Pandemic Growth Spurt
While everyone was stuck in the house during the pandemic, Charles says her business picked up. “People were interested in doing something different that they could do from home, so gardening got a lot of interest,” she shares.
“Then during the George Floyd murder protests, there was a big push by mainstream companies for Black creatives — everybody wanted Black people everywhere,” Charles exclaims.
“Someone from TikTok contacted me, so I did a successful partnership with them. Then Martha Stewart’s people contacted me in December of 2020, but I had to respectfully decline because I didn’t have the greenspace to produce what they wanted and didn’t want to fake it,” Charles laments. “But then in March of 2021, they contacted me again, and I was just over the moon.”
Then D.C.’s local news found her, along with The Weather Channel and NBC’s “Today Show.” “God has really blessed me,” Charles testifies through tears.
By Kalin Thomas
