Probably you may not be so familiar with the name Jonetta Patton, but to say you are not very familiar with her son Usher Raymond would be surprising. Having spent 17 years managing her son, Patton has now wanted to make a twist on her career.
When Usher was still at the age of 10, her mother Patton was already a youth choir director, which was where she started her music realm. During those periods when Usher was aiming to become a superstar, his mother will go from the church to the secular industry with him as they toured from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Atlanta.
In the past, Jonetta Patton explained to Atlanta Black Star, “I knew that I had to be with him. I had to shuffle a lot of things. I gave him all of me. I gave that career all of me. I had given it 17 years, he was grown, he can make his own decisions, and it was time for me to retire.”
She had revealed that the pair agreed to part ways and that she enjoyed simply being Usher’s mother for nine years. However, she had hit on a new venture recently as 2016 saw the one-time music manager open J’s Kitchen Culinary Incubator, shared kitchen space in Atlanta.
As Patton explored her new passion, she revealed that she discovered similarities between singers and chefs; both are artistic
“The only difference was it’s just a different industry,” she said. “After I did my research, [I discovered] there’re no shared kitchens with business services. I’m business savvy, [chefs] have the passion. That’s why I created the incubator.”
Meanwhile, J’s Kitchen Incubator was first purchased for the music business in 1992, but Jonetta Patton has transformed the space into Kitchens now. Currently, 19 chefs are signed to the Kitchen, which is located northeast of Atlanta in Doraville, Georgia. Each of the 19 chefs is required to have a ServSafe certificate verifying food and beverage service safety training together with a minimum of $2 million of liability insurance.
J’s Kitchen Culinary Incubator equally partners with the online marketplace start-up Hungry, which helps independent chefs promote and sell to corporate customers.
“I reinvented myself, and I love it,” Patton says as she reflects on her business. “I absolutely love what I do, and it’s not work.”
