Day, operating a catering business since 2015 like Moriarty is celebrating 2017 in a positive way. For the past, several months she has been working toward opening Day La Soul Café and Grocer at 829-831 East Warrington Avenue in the Allentown section of Pittsburgh.
“Day La Soul is my entrepreneurial baby and is a 10-year-old dream previously suppressed,” said Day. Working since the age of 15 she started at McDonalds and has since worked in retail, customer service, banking and real estate. Catering dozens of private and public events, she said the business started because she didn’t like the real estate industry and after the father of her children went to jail she knew she had to do something to take care of her children. “I set a menu, got an EIN number and began selling meals,” she said. Then one day during a major sporting event her high school classmate ordered side dishes. Potato salad, mac and cheese and caramel pecan apple pie was the menu. From there the word began to spread about her food and utilized Facebook and began vending.
Since embarking upon her culinary venture she has been the recipient of numerous awards and culinary honors. She was awarded grand prize in the 2016 Wing and Mac Smackdown for her unique wing entry and The Love Experience where she competed in her first Chef-off in a Sweet Potato Pie contest winning the People’s Choice Award. She participated in the 2015 Juneteenth Celebration at Conflict Kitchen as one of several African American chefs and was a contestant in the Pittsburgher Burger Bash.
At any given time one can find Day meeting with venders or preparing for a special event like a Soul Saturday Brunch, Caribbean Night or a pizza party for young people. With the goal to be fully functioning by February her desire is to sell fresh produce, refrigerated and frozen products, fresh baked goods and bottled healthy beverages in the grocer. Utilizing local venders is also a feature of her business and items from Cupcakes Most Wanted, Marva’s Vineyard, Cobbler World, LaDorita Dulce DeLacre and Jenny Lee’s Bakery are a few. The café, a sit down and takeout restaurant Day said will feature salads, soups, wraps, some vegan and vegetarian options, fresh juices, smoothies, and herbal teas. “My goal is for Day La Soul to be a creative hub in the community. I will host events like art, music and poetry activities but also rent the space. My aim is for Day La Soul to be an asset to the community as well as an empowering tool providing healthy food options.”
Neither Moriarty or Day have achieved their success without obstacles. Forty-seven-year-old Moriarty, a Garfield Heights native was diagnosed as an adult with Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder. “I never let that or where I grew up define me.” Her philosophy is that it is best to define your obstacles and not let them hold you back. Today she operates a $30-million-dollar business and is responsible for a staff of over 1,700. Along with the home health care business she owns Moriarty Institute, Jitney Homecare Transportation and WaDa Water.
Day, 30 and the mother of five children ranging in ages 5 to 15 says her childhood was snatched from her as a teenager when she had her first child while a sophomore at Taylor Allderdice High School. “My daughter’s birth made me feel college was impossible. After all nobody in my family had gone. So, after graduation I left home at 17, got a job and worked hard to make sure my daughter would be well cared for.” While striving to get Day La Soul Café and Grocer opened her wisdom, tenacity and courage has been tested. In October, she had a major car accident and throughout the process of getting all the licenses and permits to run such a business there has been set back after set back, she said. Now that she’s closer to reality, “Because the two businesses are separated by an archway I am told that I need architectural drawings to get the city permit and without that the county will not grant their permit plus there is a request for me to add a urinal to the bathroom,” she explained. Despite the setbacks, Day looks at the bright side. “I am grateful to Urban Innovation 21, Hollymead Capital, Kiva Zip Pittsburgh, Hilltop Alliance, Bridgeway Capital and Just Harvest for their support and assistance.”
Both entrepreneur success stories in the region, Moriarty said, “Operating a business is a process. It’s about knowing what you know and who to go to for what you don’t know.” Utilizing the knowledge and experience she gained from 20 years of working with children and adults with mental disabilities and in the care industry she said, “I pulled from whoever could help. Everyone knows something so I worked with people within their field of expertise to help me and I still rely on field service experts,” she said.
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