Tayo

Tayo started as a challenge to bring a product from conception to the marketplace. A group of women and I began meeting monthly in 2014, just to work on our individual projects. Some of us worked with textiles, food, wood…you name it, we were creating something with it. We spent 10 straight hours together every month, sharing stories, laughing, creating, and, of course, in the midst of it all was food. That first year, one of them suggested I bottle my personal recipe of gumbo ingredients and give them out as Christmas gifts. I did that and people loved it! Well, that response triggered a fantasy of sharing this product with the world. As I struggled with the “how” of sharing my beloved gumbo with the masses, the question turned into “why”; as in, why does the world need it? I, then, understood that it was not so much the dish, but the gathering of people around it that made it special. Just like in those monthly get-togethers where the idea was born, the treasure was the fellowship. And with that realization, the company development took off. All of a sudden, we had an identity and a mission, and that bred a passion to do what we do best in order to promote, facilitate, create an environment where connection and relationship happens.