Today we’d like to introduce you to Lavonda McGowen.
Hi Lavonda, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Ever since I was a little girl, I always had a passion for food. I loved throwing things together in a pot or bowl and tasting the ending results was the best part of it all. It would be an epic failure or a delightful dance party for my taste buds, either way, I was excited to see where the ingredients thrown together would land me. (Cool little wordplay there lol)
I grew up always in the kitchen no matter who was cooking, mom dad uncle auntie mother-in-law…unfortunately, my husband won’t let me in the kitchen to watch him cook we like to call him Chef Bun-Won, he is such an amazing cook I think he’s afraid of me seeing his spice blends and I borrow them from him and make them better lol. We lowkey are very competitive when it comes to cooking.
I was eight years old when I cooked my very first meal alone. My mother and father were both asleep and so was my little brother and older sister. As a poverty-stricken family what was served on our table that morning was a blessing. Fried bologna, scrambled eggs, Quaker oatmeal, and a glass of milk, yuck lol for everyone except me because for some reason I just thought that milk alone was just disgusting lol I either had water or nothing at all. Once everyone was awake and saw their plates and ate, my father got on me and said ” Girl don’t you ever cook without us knowing you could have burnt down the apartment.” Then he winked at me and told me, “But not bad at all you did good the only thing was that the oatmeal was a little bit too thick.” It was that day I fell in love with cooking and serving others. Then later on when I became a teenager my father gifted me a TV in my room and we had basic cable provided by the apartments was when I discovered the Food Network channel. It was like heaven on TV lol I was glued to and inspired by Rachel Ray’s 30-minute meals and Paula Dean and Sarah Lee and many more.
I remember being so hungry one day and told myself I was going to cook and there was a head of cabbage in the ice box or so I thought it was and I decided to fry some cabbage as I had seen being done on the tv. Well long story short it was lettuce lol and it was not good lol but found a way to make it taste good in that moment but never made it again,
There was a woman I watched after getting married on TV or YouTube here blog is called Divas Can Cook and fell in love with her oatmeal raisin cookies. I attempt to make them being that I was not the baker in my family, my oldest sister Tonya was. But somehow, after making her cookies I sort enjoyed making cookies. Then I stopped after an epic fail of making her monster cookies it was a disaster and all the cookies baked into each other making a cookie cake lol I was so disappointed and stopped baking cookies for seven years.
I was one day wanting something sweet to eat and thought about them oatmeal raisin cookies and after I baked them, I offered my Sister in Christ one, and she took a bite, then another, and after the third bite, she exclaimed, “Sis, these cookies are really good! Like, good!” I asked her, “Are they good enough to sell, or just good?” She replied, “Sis, yes! These cookies are better than Great American Cookies!” I asked her, “Who?” She said, “The cookies in the mall, girl!” We laughed, and she suggested, “You should try selling them at church!” Eventually, I did, and that was the beginning of Kinder Katering but without a name, that came much more later on. On the first day, I completely sold out of all the cookies, and I cried tears of joy, glorifying the Lord.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
For a long time, I struggled with having confidence that my cookies were good and worth selling. I have missed several opportunities to show case my gifts in the beginning of promoting and introducing my gift of baking to others. There was a time when I stayed up and baked cookies all night long to the point where my Husband had to help me. I was planning on attending a pop-up shop and I completely sabotaged that moment by choosing not to attend the event, my husband was furious with me and told me that it was moments like this one where he struggled with taking my having a business seriously. I understood why he was upset with me but if I am honest, I felt that he should have pushed me and encouraged me like a coach and told me not to back down. I wished he would have told me girl you better get your butt up and let’s go, but instead, he bashed me and made me feel worst about letting fear win that day.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Kinder Katering?
you should know that Kinder Katering was given to me by God. I had a phone call discussion with my best friend about what I should name this business, and she would just tell me she didn’t know. So, I began to call out words and then I was reminded of the work kinder and thought about a dream I had of a man with white hair coming into a store where I was standing in front of and he walked up to me and asked me who was the owner. And I told him I am. He smiled at me and said yes you are. And then he walked out of the store. I woke up knowing that this was it I was going to be a baker or own a storefront and that it was mine gifted to me by God. I love making sure He is a part of every decision, especially the big ones and even the small ones too. He must be the center of all that I do with knowing that everything good comes from Him.
So, as we were trying to find the words to describe this God-given baby, I began to see two K’s floating in the air descending upon a gray wall in the spirit, I wasn’t sure if they were pink or red. I so happy and began to tell my best friend I saw two K’s what that meant and a gain she said I don’t know lol. And that’s when the dream came back to me with the man with the white hair. Kinder was because of the love and respect I have for the elderly, and I love to help those who are in need (Kinder Hearted Person) Katering came from the word catering and just having the idea of changing the c to a K. Then I wanted a butterfly somehow incorporated within the logo but didn’t know how. I got a pencil and paper and began to draw and sketch and the Holy Spirit unction me to put them K’s back-to-back and Lord behold it was a butterfly clear as day!
One of my sisters in Christ Jesus linked me with her Logo guy and I pitched him my ideas and colors and when it was finished it was finished.
Kinder Katering is currently a cottage bakery and our specialty is cookies. With hopes of one day adding wedding cakes to our list of expertise.
We are greatly known for our Southern Tea Cake cookies that come in several variations. On Tuesdays, we offer our delicious vanilla flavored Tea Cake Cookies for seventeen dollars a dozen along with our Lemon flavor.
Kinder Katering isn’t just a cottage bakery we are much greater than that but haven’t expounded yet entirely in the vision God has it to be.
We will one day be a soup kitchen, a shelter, a mentor, a creative mind activist, God’s mouthpiece, and a food ministry.
We are a fundraiser club for kid’s sports and non-profit organizations. We are a caterer to the community of Greater Houston.
We help mothers and families after labor with meal prep and grocery shopping so that they are able to focus solely upon bonding with the newest member of their family.
What sets Kinder Katering apart from other businesses such as mine is that within every package shipped and delivered is a personal message handwritten by me and sometimes a small note from the Holy Spirit. Along with stickers with Bible scripture and extra cookie samples if I have some on hand while baking different orders. My baking atmosphere is Christ-centered and full of music and songs praising the Lord. Sometimes prayers of healing and restoration or comfort and love depending upon whatever the Lord intends for me to do are spoken aloud and the bake session continues.
I am proud of Kinder Katering being a part of the Kingdom Business. Where as in our logo stands for spiritual growth within the Lord and its everyday journey. From a calipillar to a beautiful butterfly, God has brought this vision afar and is still showing deeper and greater things He has planed for us, I thank God I am patient and without anxiousness while moving and waiting working to see how this is all going to come together,
I would like for the readers to know that as long as you keep God as the center of all that you do, what ever it is it shall prosper no matter what. and when things may not look like what the should hold on by Faith in God and of the vision He has given unto you and watch Him move and work everything out for your good.
We offer our famous Tea Cake Cookies on “Tea Cake Tuesday” at $17.00 per dozen and we are bringing back our Kinder Weekly Coupons Next Spring of 2025.
We offer custom labels for businesses and sports clubs for a more personal promotion for their events.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I was born a risktaker let my mother and father tell it! Now although those weren’t the best risk taken in my early years of adolescent, it was those moments that still was a part of me that helped shaped me into who I am today! Without risk, there is no greater reward. The unknown still has a way of scaring me but it is also a blessing in disguise when leaping out on Faith not knowing when or how this will end up but you jump anyway shows God that you trust in Him to carry you and your vision through without an escape plan or for some like me a rescue plan. There for whatever it is your doing has no choice but to win and excel.
Pricing:
- Pop-up Shops 1 cookie $3
- Pop-up Shops 2 cookies $5
- Pop-up Shops 6 cookies $14
- Pop-up Shop 12 cookies $25
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kinderkatering.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinderkatering/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kinder2Ukatering
- Twitter: https://x.com/KinderKatering
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kinderkateringkitchen4109
