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[upbeat jazz music] ♪ ♪ - Hello, and welcome to "Pathway to Success."

I'm John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Here with us today is Adenah Bayoh.

She is an amazing woman.

So Adenah, welcome to "Pathway to Success."

Tell our viewers a little bit about you and what you do.

- Thank you for having me.

I am a daughter of Newark.

I grew up in Newark, went to Newark public schools.

By way of background, I was born in Liberia and kinda migrated here when there was war in my country, and I got here when I was 12, 13 years old.

Really got immersed into the culture of Newark and everything that it's about, and I've just been here ever since.

- So a little more about, you know, your family, your upbringing.

And you alluded to Liberia.

Your roots.

- Yeah.

- Talk about it.

- Yeah, I mean, that's where it all started.

I think one of the vivid memories of, I wanna say, Africa for me, Liberia particularly, is my grandmother.

- Mm-hmm.

- I was raised by my grandmother that was this amazing business woman.

She was in a remote part of Liberia where, you know, I kinda think about it right now, and it's amazing, everything that she accomplished with no education.

She had a hundred-acre farm.

She had real estate.

She had a bread factory, and I was just around her from birth all the way till we got here.

And that's what I come from, this amazing woman-- really amazing women in Africa.

If you go to the marketplace, it's kinda run by women.

- Mm-hmm.

- So I come from this long line of amazing women, my mother, my grandmother, my aunts, and Liberia's all where it started.

- So would you say your grandmother was your source of inspiration, or is there others that you might give that title?

- I think my grandmother's gonna have to take the crown on this one.

She was my nurturer.

She was this amazing business woman.

And when the war started in Liberia, there was word out in the village that, you know, when the rebels come, they're looking for people they assume are rich, had property, and they're gonna disturb that unit.

So in the middle of the night, while everyone is sleeping, and she said, "Wake up."

I vividly remember just having, like, a little T-shirt, no shoes, nothing on.

And she said, "We gotta go."

- Wow.

- And she left everything behind, and we started on this journey to go to another country as refugees.

And she took her whole family.

We walked.

And she had knee problems.

And I remember us finding a wheelbarrow to put her in so she could finish the journey.

Actually, the wheelbarrow went out.

We couldn't carry my grandmother.

We left her in this little village very close to Sierra Leone.

And we all continued on.

I was devastated.

I was hurt.

And when we got to Sierra Leone, I had did markings, and I think it was a week later when everyone was asleep, I got back up, made a journey back to where we left my grandmother, to go be reunited with my grandmother, and that scared her because for this little girl to leave another country to come and unite with her.

And I remember what she said to me when she saw me.

She was like, "You came here by yourself?"

and I said yes.

She was like, "I knew it from birth.

You are a warrior," and I remember just cracking up.

And that's the memory of my grandmother, she saying to me I'm a warrior, you know?

- So as you were sharing that story, there's so much come to mind.

I immediately thought about Harriet Tubman.

And I thought about the marines or someone in the military.

From an education standpoint and all you been through, why did you choose the institutions you chose for your education?

- It wasn't about going to the best schools.

Wasn't about any of that.

For me, it was about going somewhere that was affordable, somewhere where I knew that it wouldn't be a burden on me or my family, so I went to Fairleigh Dickinson 'cause I got into their EOF program really by the help of my teachers.

I remember not having the 250 for application fee, and my teacher at the time putting the money up or writing the school so they could waive it.

It was amazing to see this support from my community to make sure that I went to college.

It wasn't about "you don't have it, you're not gonna go."

They just said, "You're gonna go."

- When you graduated from FDU, what did you do professionally?

- So when I graduated FDU, I went into banking 'cause I had did an internship at the time with Summit Bank, which is now Bank of America, and they hired me right after college into this manager-in-training program.

- Little bit about your first business that you established and why.

- Ooh, so, okay, I'm gonna-- I'm gonna tell you a little secret, John, that a lot of people don't know.

I was in college, and I had a hair salon in my dorm.

It used to be called Chocolate City.

[both laughing] And after college, I immediately working at the bank.

I bought my very first house at 21.

Took the equity out of that house, and I opened a salon on Chancellor Avenue.

It was called Chocolate City.

You know, people talk about your success all of the time, but that was one that didn't work out, and I moved on.

But if you're talking about now, the first official, you know, business I wanna say will be my very first IHOP in Irvington on Springfield Avenue.

- I remember hearing about you.

I think Wayne Smith was the mayor at the time.

- Yeah.

- And Wayne was taking you all around, introducing you and really, you know, he was like your chief promoter.

He was like Don King.

He was in your corner.

- Yeah.

- But share-- you know, there may be some folks listening that are looking to start businesses, fear failure.

What were some of the benefits of you not reaching your goals in your first business enterprise?

- So I believe that when you're doing anything, the universe kind of tests you.

It tests you in any way.

You know, it's gonna conspire to test your will.

But if you want it really badly, it's gonna also conspire to get you whatever it is that you want to be successful.

So I always look at my failures as the universe testing me.

And you have to listen, sometimes, to what it's saying to you.

I remember when Chocolate City didn't work, I knew why it didn't work.

It was a business model that didn't work for me.

So it changed when I came to open an IHOP.

When I went to open IHOP, I went to solve a problem.

And I'm glad you mentioned Wayne Smith 'cause I think everybody, anybody that's going into business, you need support.

And one thing I've been fortunate-- and it's not just Wayne Smith.

I've been entirely fortunate for my community.

I just get a sense that there are people rooting for me.

When I became an IHOP franchisee, I was the youngest IHOP franchisee ever to be given a franchise.

I was the only Black woman.

And there was a lot of challenges.

There was a lot of curveballs.

They said no restaurant experience, you work in banking and IHOP initially said no to me.

But I don't take no for an answer.

I always will go back and ask, "But why?"

And I think sometimes when you ask why, and people start to explain to you, the answer's gonna start coming to you.

IHOP eventually said yes to me.

We don't have all day to go into how that happened, so I'll skip over that.

But I think the challenge really was when I went to go get the financing for that IHOP.

That is when I felt like the universe was really testing me.

It was like, I'm like, you're trying to kill me.

And having seven banks say no, when I sit back now and I think about why so many banks said no to me, I fundamentally believe that they couldn't see me.

They had never seen an Adenah.

They have never seen it.

And I don't think people understand that when you don't see it, you can't relate to it.

- Why did you choose IHOP as your first significant venture?

- I love IHOP.

When I was at Fairleigh Dickinson University, we used to have an IHOP literally down the street from my dorm room.

We used to spend countless hours at that place.

I love the pancake, I love, you know, the clicking of the plates, the food.

What it represented when I was in college, I wanted that.

And when I came back from college, one time my girlfriend came to have, you know, breakfast with me, we couldn't find an IHOP.

At the time, I was living in Irvington, no national brand was in Irvington at the time.

I think these are things that sort of add little disadvantages to people that live in certain communities.

And I just said, "I want to solve this problem.

I live in Irvington, and we should have an IHOP."

And that just sparked this whole journey of, "Let's go get one."

- Wow, so how many do you have now?

- We have four.

We're opening up the next one in Roselle, New Jersey.

My goal, ultimately, is to encourage more women to be franchisees, or, in my case, next year, I'm gonna be a franchisor.

We're franchising our concept Cornbread on the top of next year, and that is my goal.

- Yeah, I think that's some exciting news for those who are tuning in to "The Pathway to Success."

So let's take a break right now.

I'm enjoying this talk with Adenah Bayoh, and we'll be back in a moment.

announcer: The African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey is your pathway to success.

We encourage you to visit our website at www.aaccnj.com or call us at 609-571-1620.

We are your strategic partner for success.

- Welcome back to "Pathway to Success."

I'm John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Can you share with a little bit about this Cornbread concept and how we can get others potentially to, you know, respond and have this opportunity to work with you in expanding your brand?

- I fundamentally do believe that food matters.

Representation matters.

And you're gonna hear this theme a lot from me.

I think that when we eat, we need to see ourself being represented in the food that we're eating because that's what food is.

It's an experience.

So I became obsessed with opening up a soul food fast casual concept.

If I was to describe it, we are the Chipotle of soul food.

We give you the best mac and cheese, collards, yam, cabbage, and the most amazing cornbread you've ever had, period.

And if you find better, I'll reimburse you back.

- I love it, I love it.

- Yes.

I remember really going around the country.

I went on a soul food tour.

I went to Atlanta, Chicago.

I mean, I wanted to experience what it was like, what it's like to experience soul food in different states.

I became obsessed.

And the concept would sort of go in my mind, and I said, "I need someone that can bring this alive in terms of recipes."

And then one day, the daycare my kids go to at the time, the owner, Elzadie Smith, cooked something for me, and I tasted, and I said, "Oh, my God.

Where have you been all of my life?"

I said, "I am opening up this restaurant.

I need you to do it with me."

In 2017, I wanna say, we opened our first soul food Cornbread concept in Maplewood, New Jersey.

The line was at the curb.

- Wow.

- I could not believe it.

And we opened three more.

Actually, in Pittsburg, we did a partnership with Walmart at the time right before the pandemic.

That didn't work out.

We opened one right here in Newark on Broad Street, our third location in Brooklyn, and next year, we're franchising to bring more people in the family.

And we want to spread this joy.

We want to empower.

And how, I think, the pathway to doing that, is empowering women.

It's putting them in the position where they can have economic power in their community, employ people.

And I think franchising is a beautiful pathway to do that.

- Real estate development.

Share with us about that.

- My grandmother, when we were back in Africa, like I mentioned earlier, she had real estate, she had a farm.

She had a restaurant, she had a bread factory.

And I kinda look back, and now my life is locked in step with hers.

My grandmother used to ask me to go around our little village and get envelopes from people.

I didn't know what it was.

Actually what I was doing was collecting rent.

I would go get envelope, and I would bring it to my grandmother.

And some people I have to go twice.

I guess they were late on their rent, now that I think about it.

And I started off really buying two, three, four family houses, and gradually--well, really, 2008 happened.

And my whole world kinda came crashing.

And I remember after the 2008 financial crisis, I remember saying to myself, "When I get out of this, I'm going big."

And I remember my sister was like, "Girl, get yourself a credit card first before you go big."

And I said, "I'm going vertical.

"I'm no longer doing the two, four, five.

I'm going vertical."

And what I mean by that is, I want to build high rises.

I want to build multi-families.

And not only do I wanna build those, I wanna build them because I wanna be able to bring affordability back into the community.

It took me about four or five years to do my first affordable project.

It was 114 units.

But I did it, and I'm proud to say the first one was in Irvington.

I am doing another 92 units, 56 unit, and we're going back to the state of New Jersey for my 9% tax credit application this year.

And fundamentally, you're giving credits so you can lower the rents for people to be able to afford an apartment in their community.

- But also, you believe in giving back.

You know, you're a philanthropist.

You're also concerned about health.

- To whom much is given, so much is expected.

I take that very seriously, I do.

The first month of COVID, where there was no PPP, nothing was happening, the restaurants was really-- no revenue.

The staff wasn't getting their hours.

And I sat there, and I'm saying to myself, if I'm struggling, imagine what my employees are going through right now.

I remember for a whole month, I covered employees' paycheck because I knew there was single mothers.

I knew there was people that couldn't put food on their table.

It almost bankrupt me.

I'm not gonna lie, it was hard, but I'm so glad I did it.

The thank yous, the staff members, you know, it was just amazing.

I felt good.

And we went a step a little further, and I said, "You know guys, it's slow right now "in the restaurants.

"Why don't we invite members of the communities to come in and eat?"

I remember, for three months, we gave out something like 10,000 pancakes.

And if you was a child that was out of school, between 11:00 and 2:00, we're giving out free lunches.

Because I remember being that kid going to school just for lunch because that was my only meal.

And I'm sitting at home saying to myself, "These kids are home.

They're hungry."

You know?

And I remember sitting with my HR team and saying, "Why don't we offer free dental, free vision, "and free life insurance for all of the team that work for us?"

And I remember calling John one day.

I was like, "John, I need you to get me someone "that's a member of the Chamber that can write us insurance."

And he's like, "I got you."

It was a Saturday.

And sure enough, she came through.

Now all of my employees, I pay for it.

If you work for me, you have free life insurance, free dental, free vision, and she's working with me right now so I can offer free health care.

And for me, that's what it's about.

- I think that's a powerful story and a testament to, you know, you can do well and do good at the same time.

We're getting a little short on time here, but I want you to talk a little bit about your team, how important it is to have committed, loyal professionals helping to execute your vision.

- Whatever field that you're in, you have to learn that field, you have to be a hard worker, and you have to surround yourself with amazing people.

There are thinker, but there are also doers.

And you have to hold them accountable.

You have to let people know they have to perform.

- Partnership is the key to success.

This is my last question.

The African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, how significant is our organization as it relates to your strategic partnerships?

- Someone called me.

I was talking to someone recently why they should join the African American Chamber of Commerce.

I told her, I said, "John is your--" [laughs] You said Wayne Smith was my hype man.

"John is your hype man.

John would talk about you in rooms that you're not there."

That's home base for me.

That is a place I can turn to because it's hard out here.

It's really, really hard.

And you--we need to rely on each other when times get hard.

- You know, what's on tap for the next five years?

- For Cornbread, Cornbread is gonna be the premiere franchise brand led by African American women, me or someone else.

We will be across the country.

And then on the real estate side, it's really establishing this amazing boutique affordable housing development firm that is looking to really solve some of the hard, hard issues as it relates to housing.

And I want to play a part into how we preserve the history of these urban communities.

How people in these markets don't get priced out or tapped out.

That is personal to me.

So--and it's the next five years really building on those two things and really making sure that we solve problems.

- So Adenah Bayoh, thank you so much for being a guest today on "Pathway to Success."

Until the next time, on your pathway to success, this is John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Thank you.

[jazz music] ♪ ♪ Today's message is all about women.

I talked today with Adenah Bayoh.

She's talked about her journey from Africa to the United States.

She talked about her team, she talked about her vision.

She talked about her hardship, her heartaches.

But the thing that I gleaned most from her was her warrior spirit, her courage, her perseverance, and her will to win and to produce excellence.

But more was, she never forgot about giving back and being a good steward of the resources that she had.

So I say that to the women today who are struggling to hold down their homes in pursuit of careers or business enterprises.

Keep your head up.

Keep plowing forward.

Somehow along the way, muster the courage to be able to speak truth to power, to go into a board room, or to go into a meeting with bank officials, or those who have resources that you need to execute your vision, and articulate to them as confidently as possible that you have what it takes to be successful.

[upbeat jazz music] ♪ ♪ announcer: Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, PSE&G, JCP&L, Investors Bank, Berkeley College, NJM Insurance Group, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

♪ ♪