In The Passenger Seat with Alethea Crimmins
From the front seat of her car, Alethea has motivated millions—reaching hearts around the world and even catching the attention of icons like Rihanna, Kesha, Madonna, and Viola Davis. Now, she’s bringing that same energy, wisdom, and unshakable confidence to the podcast realm—inviting special guests to ride along and share their own journeys of resilience, purpose, and self-discovery.
No scripts, no filters—just raw, powerful conversations filled with gems, laughter, and the kind of motivation that makes you sit up a little straighter. You never know who will be in the passenger seat next, but one thing’s for sure: every ride is a step toward something greater.
So buckle up, tune in, and let’s take this journey together. 🎙️🚗✨
In The Passenger Seat with Alethea Crimmins
From Mississippi to Millions: How Kerri Paul Built Her Restaurant Empire
What would happen if you stopped begging for a seat at someone else's table and built your own instead? That's exactly what Kerri Paul, a self-described "regular little southern girl" from Mississippi, decided to do. After leaving corporate America behind, she's now the proud co-owner of three thriving Brick and Spoon restaurants across the Gulf Coast, a content creator, and a mompreneur raising "Irish triplets" while building her empire.
Raised by entrepreneurial parents who showed her that women could be bosses and multiple income streams were normal, Kerri developed a fearless approach to business. When opportunity knocked, she didn't hesitate to take massive risks—selling her custom-built home and moving in with her parents to secure seed money for her first restaurant. "I'm going to take a risk on myself, I'm going to invest in myself," became her mantra.
The southern brunch culture Kerri created through Brick and Spoon isn't just about mimosas and good food (though there's plenty of both). It's about crafting spaces where people feel seen and valued, not just numbers passing through. Her customers sometimes cry when sharing how her story has impacted them, proving that authentic connection builds stronger businesses than corporate strategies ever could.
What distinguishes successful entrepreneurs from dreamers? According to Kerri, it's not intelligence or resources—it's consistency. "Consistency has been the key in everybody I know that has a bag," she explains. Combined with her philosophy that "the only time you fail is when you stop," this mindset has carried her through ventures ranging from a shoe store during the 2008 recession to competing on The Amazing Race.
Ready to build something that reflects your vision and values? Take Kerri advice: "Get out of your own way. There is nothing standing between you and success but yourself." Start now, start imperfect, and remember that every experience—whether conventionally successful or not—gives you tools no one can take away.
Have a Good Day On Purpose...
YA' Welcome
Hello, hello, honey. It's your honey girl. Y'all already know it's Alicia crippling your positivity queen. And I'm pimping positivity in the passenger seat. Listen, the person that I have in the passenger seat today is not only gorgeous, okay? She is a serial entrepreneur, a content creator, a restaurateur, a cultural storyteller, and just an all-around boss, baby, from Mississippi. M I S S I S S I Cookie Letter, Cookie Letter, listen. Y'all already know she's from Mississippi, baby, the dirty, dirty south. So you already know that she's my sister from another mistake, okay? And she's here to show y'all and tell y'all how to build your dream without begging for a seat at a table that wasn't built for you in the first place. Because why are we begging for a seat at the table when we can create our own? That part, that part. Why are we begging for seats at table when we can create our own? Okay, she is the co-owner of three count them. One, two, three brick and spoon restaurants across the Gulf Coast, Beluxie, Gulfport, and Mobile. She's come, she has competed on the amazing race. She's gone viral for talking about her southern upbringing, secure the bag. Okay, she's worked with companies like Ford, honey. She's raising daughters, and that is not an easy task. Okay, not an easy task while still building a business that reflects not just her, not just her vision, but her values.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, Miss Carrie, baby. Welcome. The intro was so good, baby. My phone got snatched, baby. Snatch my phone.
SPEAKER_02:Girl, you made me sound real good, sis.
SPEAKER_00:Because you are real good, sis. Listen, you are real good, and you're doing some real good things out here in these streets.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you, girl.
SPEAKER_00:So I want to give you your flowers now because you deserve it. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you. I'm just a tired mama at the end of the day, same as everybody else.
SPEAKER_00:Listen, because I have three kids of my own, but they are grown. But now I have my grandbaby that's living with me, and I'm just like, oh baby, starting all over again is not easy.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, with these alphas. What are we gonna do? What we gonna do about it? Pray, pray hard, hard. And mine talking about mama. You better remember to pray. Last night she told me that. Say your prayers. I'm like, girl, if you don't leave me alone.
SPEAKER_00:Oh listen, she train them up, raise them up, right?
SPEAKER_02:They're trying to raise me up though. That's a problem.
SPEAKER_00:Because they they always think that they know, like it's like right now, we are no longer raising little kids, we are raising miniature adults, people, yes, humans, type humans that think that they're the parents, yes, and they try to get us together, yes. Now, for the people that do not know who you are, introduce yourself.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm Carrie Paul, I'm just a regular little southern girl that had some hopes and dreams, and you know, I'm making them happen every day. Um, I own three brunch restaurants, brick and spoon. And you've already said all these things, but I think um my biggest takeaway, what I want people to know about me, is I'm a mompreneur, and I'm just a woman who said no to the mess and the BS of corporate America, and I said yes to me. And I really had to learn how to pivot, and I didn't mind pivoting. And look, here my business partner just messing up my call in the back of my trunk. So this is real life business and real life mom life. Look, I love it. I love it. Hold on, let me let me let y'all see her since you want to get in the get on in now, Brittany. Yeah, go ahead. So the store. Thank you. I love it. Real life mompreneur life, that's what we do.
SPEAKER_03:I have I'm about to start lighting the twins up.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so I have a set of twins. So I have Irish triplets, what I call Irish triplets. So I have a set of twins and their baby sister who was born the following year. And my business partner has twins plus one as well. So we are really mompreneur, and all of our twins and triplets and all these children are at the restaurant right now. We've had a work day together with children in our space and all in our face, and we just really have to know how to juggle. And I mean, baby, we in a circus.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, listen. I cannot imagine. I cannot imagine twins, twins plus one.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Both of us have that.
SPEAKER_00:I cannot imagine. I I I promise you I could not.
SPEAKER_02:No, I worked in corporate America for you know, a while. And it's so I'm also a content creator. So an influencer. And a lot of people just know influencers as like, you know, the 25-year-old girlies, and they're just like Instagram models, this, that, and the third. But like, I'm a real grown woman. I'm 43 years old. I've worked in corporate America. You know, I I bring, I feel like some of my business and corporate elements into my social media world. And, you know, like I actually worked a real job. A lot of people in that industry have not. So, you know, I'm a mom, I'm a real woman. I I know how to get it because guess what? If you don't, you ain't gonna have none. Basically, you gotta learn how to get it.
SPEAKER_00:You can learn how to hustle, especially mom. Yes, because if because if we don't do it, like we can't look for anybody to save us, like we have to get it how we live, because at the end of the day, I have to make sure that my baby's got it. That's right. Nine times out of ten, I am the only one that can give it to them.
SPEAKER_02:And you want them, you know. For me, one thing that I like to, I guess, share or think about or talk about is building that generational wealth because for my family, you know, my parents, they didn't come from much, but my dad was from the East Coast and he moved down south. And, you know, he actually did go to college and he did have an engineering degree, and he went to the Air Force and became an officer in the Air Force, and he did some things that a lot of us, our parents did not have the opportunity to do. And so moving down south, he always had that hustle mentality because you know, people from the east coast, they come down here and they say it's slow, or they, you know, they used to that hustle, that bustle, that city life. But my dad brought that to us, entire family.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:So coming from the east coast, he, you know, he came down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I was like, oh my God, there's so like the world is your oyster, literally. Like you can do anything, you can be anything here. And my dad, even though he wasn't an entrepreneur working at Centers Space Center and NASA, he had all kinds of entrepreneurial ventures. And I always saw that, and my mom did as well. And I always saw that growing up, and my parents really working for themselves and like hustling and not afraid to have five, six, seven jobs or you know, buying property and having apartments and being landlords. I saw that growing up. That's the world I lived in. That was my lived experience. So, you know, I you always want to build upon that for the next generation. And it's what lets me know that, you know, as a mom or a preneur rather, I'm doing the right thing for my kids, you know, giving them that.
SPEAKER_00:So you are okay, so we're gonna get into this because what you are talking about is legacy in motion. Yes, this is what you you're doing, like you were raised around it. Yes, your mom owns a construction cleaning business, yes. Okay, yeah, so uh what did watching that kind of hustle uh teach you about building something that lasts? Because that's that's what you're doing now, you're building something that lasts. So, what what did that teach you about watching it by being around it every single day? How did that help you now?
SPEAKER_02:It taught me one that women are leaders. I've never had a moment where I thought that the boss is only a man, you know, because in my world, both of my parents were bosses, and my mom was definitely the boss. So I I grew up thinking that I could do anything, that I could, you know, touch anything that I put my mind to because I saw her do it. Seeing my parents achieve, it gave me an open worldview that I could do it. And I did, you know, I know a lot of us in our communities, we have a, you know, kind of like a fear or like this like cloud hanging over our head where we're like, uh, but is it gonna be hard or is it gonna be, I just I don't have that. And it also gave me a safety net, so to speak, so that I could take risks because my parents had, you know, my dad built our home, my childhood home. He built it with his own hands. And I mean, it's a pretty large two-story home that we grew up in, and they still have that home now. And so for me, that gave me as a young adult the flexibility to take risks because in the back of my head, I'm like, okay, I'm what I got to lose. You know, if something happened, I go stay with my mom and them, you know, like I'll go live in one of their homes. It's just a sense of security. And I think it's it's not a 100% anomaly, but I think it's something that a lot of people of color and a lot of families are cut of color are being able to experience that type of leg up, I guess. You know, you see that in other communities often, but that has been my lived experience. And I don't think that I understood until I became an adult how beneficial that was to me to be able to have that security net. And that's probably a big reason why I did take some of the risk that I took.
SPEAKER_00:So when you say risk, what what type of risk have you taken thus far as a big business owner?
SPEAKER_02:So, well, I will say, you know, years ago when I was on the Amazing Race back in 2010, that was a big risk because I had to take off work and I had a corporate job. I worked for the city as a program coordinator. And I the I had to take I've worked for about a month. And I mean, most people wouldn't do that. You know, I was in my late 20s, but most people would be afraid to lose their job. And quite frankly, when I got back, they had changed my job some. And shortly thereafter, I did leave. But like I said, it enabled me to have a thought process of okay, I'm gonna go for this that I want to do because I'm not gonna die. You know, what's gonna happen? Or um when we opened our restaurant, I sold everything. Like we sold our home, our custom built home. Like we had a beautiful home that we had built. Custom. And back when I built it, I knew that it had a lot of equity in it, and I was sitting on that equity. And when the opportunity came up to open um our restaurants, we sold our home and moved in with my parents to get the seed money to open the restaurant. So that's what I mean by taking a risk. It's not, you know, that was big, that was a huge risk to like sell everything and move it with my parents. Yes, many people would do that, and not many people have the opportunity to do it, if quite frankly. And you know, it was just really a blessing that we were able to take advantage of that, especially not knowing what is going to happen.
SPEAKER_00:It's like I'm going to take a risk on myself, I'm going to invest in myself. And I love how you said at the beginning, like the world will tell you no, but you told yourself yes.
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:And a lot of times we don't tell ourselves yes because we're so busy listening to what the world tells us. And because you invested in yourself, because you have these rents, uh you didn't open one uh restaurant, honey.
SPEAKER_02:She said, I have restaurants plural, plural, you open restaurants, but in the game, you have to have well, you know, in the franchise game of the restaurant business, you have you're not gonna get rich of one. You know, they say most millionaires have to have seven streams of income to become a millionaire, and that's I I just said that yeah, so I'm working on my streams, okay? Okay, seven streams of income. If you talk to anybody who's in the restaurant business or who's in the franchise business, you're gonna you might have five. You're gonna have one or two that's struggling, you know, like and it's just a numbers game at that point. And you know, also when you bring something to your area in your city, other people are gonna look around and be like, oh, that's a good idea. They're gonna try to steal it. So, you know, you got to beat them to the punch, you gotta grow big fast. And that's what we did. And right now we're kind of, you know, we we we're just trying to settle, you know. And you know, you hear the word hit a plateau and you think it's bad, it's not always bad.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:I feel like we're at a plateau and I'm trying to stand on that that that good firm plateau ground, okay? So no problem with being on my plateau.
SPEAKER_00:Let me sit there. Okay, okay, but you you made brunch so much more than brunch. Like, would you create like culture on a plate? So, how did this uh brick and spoon uh become more than just food? Like it it became uh a reflection of southern uh luxury. Like, what is the intention behind this? Like when you're uh when somebody walks into these doors, how do you want them to feel? What do you do you want them to see? What is the uh experience that you wanted when you came up with uh brick and uh spoon? And how do you stay rooted in your community when you expand in such a major way?
SPEAKER_02:I ain't got no choice but to be rooted in it from the community come on, Carrie, right there in the cool window. Come on, I res you know, I'm in the hospitality state. Mississippi is the hospitality state in Louisiana. Uh uh, something that people don't understand where I'm from, coastal Mississippi. We're on the state line. My husband is from Louisiana, he's from Slaudell. You know, my dad used to work in New Orleans and commutes in New Orleans every day. Like, that's our culture. I grew up listening to Q93 radio, so like my culture is Creole, Mississippi, Louisiana culture. So, like for me, that's just what we do. Think about it. When you when your grandma and them come over for the weekend or whatever, your aunties come from out of town, they're gonna make a big pot of gumbo. They're gonna make some potatoes, we will, they're gonna cook, you're gonna have your crawfish, you're gonna have your your food. That is what we do in the south. We we we want people to have that experience with food. That's how we show love. Now, my husband differ because he'll say, Babe, you don't cook that much. But listen, I have to tell him, Fed is best, baby. You get fed, though, ain't you? You ain't you don't look like you miss no meals, but like I can cook. I just I'm not able to practice as often as I would like. But in our culture, we that's how we show love to our guests in our hospital, it shows southern hospitality. And I want my restaurant, my child over here trying to get some money. Okay, but thank you. He's he's talking about he's trying to go get some ramen from the restaurant this time.
SPEAKER_00:No ramen. Ooh, but but but I love me a good ramen bowl, though.
SPEAKER_02:But you know, my restaurant is all about so brunch. Think about what brunch is it is between breakfast and breakfast and lunch. It's no pressure, but you're not rushing for brunch, you're taking your time. You know, breakfast, you rushing, you're trying to get up, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, get out the door. It's like that little dance. But brunch is a chill time, it's where you put on your cute clothes, you go, you have your mimosa, you have your good blooded Mary, and you have some friends, and that's the culture. I mean, literally, that's the culture of brunching in just in everywhere. And so we needed that on the Gulf Coast. So, like I said earlier, when you're solving a problem, you know, that's that is the father of invention. No, the mother, excuse me, the mother of invention. Thank you. And so we brought the first brunch restaurant to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and people loved it. We shared our story, you know. We we did a groundbreaking where we had all these people like there have been people that have come to my restaurant and cried with me. Because I, baby, I cry, baby. I I look just I I did so emotional. Yeah, I am so emotional. I cry for anything, girl. And when people come and tell you how your story has impacted them, it's like I was that little girl. Yes, you know, like that is the best part of my job when people tell me like you shared the story and it changed the way I thought, or the way I looked at something, or you inspired me to go do XYZ. That's the best part of what I get to do.
SPEAKER_00:Did did you ever think that you doing what you are doing now, that you building this lecture, that you telling your story would inspire people like that so much? That would touch people in that way.
SPEAKER_02:I don't think I realized how how important it would be to them. I knew it was important to me, but I didn't know how important it would be to others. And especially like the elders. You know, you'll have people come in the restaurant and they'll be like, I heard it's loud. And you know, they're whispering. And I'm like, baby, say it. It's you welcome to say it loud. You are not a number here. Like, I'm looking, I'm looking for you.
SPEAKER_00:Man, do you like I don't know if you know, but to make people feel seen, to make people feel validated, to be in a space where I know that I feel like I belong, where I'm not just a number. I'm I'm not just somebody that you're getting money from. Like I'm an actual person. And that is what you have built is amazing.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:And I you have you have built something that I'm just trying, girl, to keep it going. So look, y'all, y'all come eat with me, please. You you're not even trying, like you are doing, like, like you are doing the damn thing in a major, major way. Look at look at them, girl. They they like we we we are real mamas around here, like this is real mama stuff. Yeah, like this is not no, this this is mom life in real time. This is mama life in real time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, this is real time, real, the realist. Babe, they didn't came to this call talking about mommy. Uh, it's time to go. Not yet. Hold on, but let me hold on, but let me tell you the best part. Come here, come here, Joao.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Me, no, no, not not wait. He said, let me show you the bestest part. Yeah, so let's show the best part.
SPEAKER_01:But we're the cry.
SPEAKER_02:Look at this. Oh, fix the face, fix the face, fix the face. Yeah, fix your face. Can you see the shirt?
SPEAKER_01:Hey, beautiful. Do you see the shirt? Who is that?
SPEAKER_00:That's not you working on the job. Can you see the shirt though? Brick and spoon, baby. Brick and spoon. My shirt. My shirt.
SPEAKER_02:You wanted to wear it. Who's that?
SPEAKER_00:Because she wants to be like mama, and that is a beautiful thing. Because I want to be a boss like my mommy. Who wants to be a boss like mommy? Raise his hand.
SPEAKER_01:Period. Go to the MBA.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, you want to go to the MA, but keep working harder. You will. Okay. Okay, y'all gotta sit down. If I I love it. Sit down. Sit down. Yes, sit down. Yes, sit down, please. Y'all sit down. I'm doing a I love it. I love it. I love it. Y'all have to be quiet. If y'all are gonna be a part of this, y'all have to be quiet.
SPEAKER_00:All right, thank y'all. Oh, see that southern. Did y'all hear that? Yes, ma'am. Did y'all hear that? Yes, ma'am, baby. That's southern hospitality at its finest. That's yes, ma'am. Because we raise our children to say, yes, ma'am, yes, sir, ma'am. You don't get that everywhere. I'm just saying, I'm not no, you don't. And with my butt means that you are raising them the right way. Okay. Southern hospitality at its finest. But let me tell you something. Brunch has become such a staple. Stable, yes, especially for us. Because, baby, I love, I don't get dressed up to go to breakfast. I don't get dressed up to go to lunch. But when you tell me that I'm going to brunch, baby, I'm getting cute. I'm putting on my because I know that I'm about to have some good food. And okay, lashes. I'm I'm making sure I am together because I know that it will be a vibe. And I want to go to a good, you know, spot where it's a vibe.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Because that's what it is.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:With good food and good fun and community. And that's what I love about it.
SPEAKER_00:I love this. So, okay, we have to talk about because you mentioned it, so we got to talk about it. The amazing race. Oh, how did that even stop? Because listen, when you was calling yourselves, the two country, was it crunchy country girls from Mississippi? But but I love that you own that. I love that you own that, but how did that even come about?
SPEAKER_02:So that was a part of the process, and actually, that's a part of the process that with the amazing race that I hold dear for me is that I even got us on the show. And so my cousin wanted to be on the show, and she came to me with this idea, and I was like, all right, I got you. And this was back in 2009. Think about it, we had a Sony Vio laptop. Nobody had phones with videos and stuff. So I recorded our you girl, you can go find our audition video on YouTube, actually. And I'm so proud of it because I didn't even have the same tools that I have nowadays. And, you know, it was really like having um focus groups with my family and really narrowing it down, like what makes us different. What can we provide to the show that they just won't be able to say no to? And you know, how can we become like an archetype? You know, not a stereotype, but an archetype, something that is like, you know, a symbol of what? And so we were like, you know, we're the country girls from Mississippi, and you know, I was I just got married that year. We were getting ready to turn 30. So we're still in our 20s, and we were just really fun, loving, and just, you know, country southern, not afraid to get dirty, but still cute, you know, okay.
SPEAKER_00:Because we we can we can go mudd, but we can be cute while we're mudding, right?
SPEAKER_02:We have a weird side that we ride in mud riding, yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:So, how did that competing shift your mindset?
SPEAKER_02:It's so one just carrying all that stuff on my back, you know, it kind of made me understand that I don't need a lot in this world to be successful. At that time in my life, it it was it was a good moment for me to be like, okay, I got this. You know, you don't need all the extra stuff. You just you just need your wits, you know, you just need you and you know, a spirit of, I got this. Um just being a part of that, it gave me a taste of show business and being in the industry. Okay. And, you know, I've always been a creative. The word influencer is thrown around, right? But like, it's not a bad term to me because it just means you have influence. And, you know, some people use their influence for good, some people use it negatively, but I always want to use mine to share what I've learned because I love to learn. You know, even in my 40s, I still want to learn. I want to learn how to be better, and I want to learn what resources I can use to help me to be better or to bring something to somebody else. So, you know, being in show business in that moment kind of taught me how being creative and how you know thinking outside can help you to stand out and just have a good time and to, you know, make a statement in life.
SPEAKER_00:I love that. I I love how you word things and everything that you say comes back to mindset, everything that you say come comes back to you telling yourself yes. Everything that you say, you become more self-aware, like you bring it back to yourself because it's not about what the outside world says or does, it's how that helps you grow. And I love how you make everything into that type of message, like okay, I've done this, so how did this help help me grow? I did this, how did this help me grow?
SPEAKER_02:Snowball that is an amazing thing going from one thing to the next, snowball effect, and how you know, one piece of success. And you know, people think that success is just like this uphill trajectory, and it's not because I've done several things that you know, I even forget to talk about some of the things. My sister and I owned a retail store back in 2006 to 2008. We owned a shoe store called the shoe warehouse. And when I moved back home after college, I told myself, you know, if I'm gonna come back home, I want to do something different. I want to do something, you know, amazing. And so we put our money together and we we bought our inventory, we rented out a building and a shopping center, and we opened a shoe store. And that to this day, I still have my customers who come to me and they're like, oh my. God, we love this new warehouse, we miss it. It was a part of the community, and our customers knew it was theirs, it was a place that they could go and feel at home and feel valued. And I'm saying all this to say, even though our store closed in 2008, well, that was when the economy went sour, you know, but it wasn't a failure, it was a learning experience. And I the things that I learned from that have taken me into you know furthering my steps in the hospitality business and where I am today with my restaurant, because some of the things I learned then, I'm using them now.
SPEAKER_00:I love that. I I love how you use everything as a learning experience. Speaking of which, we have come to my favorite part of the show. Ask Alethea. Okay, so this one comes from Delta Diva, and she says, Alethea, I've got a vision, I have a gift, I have a business idea, but I keep getting stuck on the how. I'm scared to start and I'm scared to fail. How do I know when it's time to go all in, or should I just give it up? I will let you answer first.
SPEAKER_02:I would say just get started because it oh, it's a turn. Oh, what is it? It's eluding me right now. Perfect is the enemy of done. You cannot wait until things are perfect because it's never gonna be perfect. You just gotta get started so you can get it done and you can learn as you go. Because, like, like I said, I had my shoe store, it didn't fail. I made some money, I closed my doors, I went on to the next thing. So, all of those tools are still in my tool belt. Nobody can take those tools away from me because they're in my brain. So sometimes you just have to start small. You know, if she wants to open a say if she wants to open a restaurant, maybe let's start by selling plates. You know, people do that all the time in the neighborhood. You know, they're gonna sell plates. Make a name for yourself, start branding yourself, start with whatever it is you're gonna want to do, you know, an online store or whatever it is, but just get started. Do not wait because time is of the essence. And a lot of my friends in in the business world I've talked to, millionaires. What is the one thing that has separated them? Because trust me, some of the billionaires, some of the millionaires I know, they're regular people. They're not any smart. I know people that I know several people that I would say maybe smarter than them, but the one thing they did was stay consistent. Consistency has been the key in everybody that I know that has a bag, they got a million bags. They stayed consistent. So they got started, they started learning and perfecting their craft while they were doing it, and they stayed with it.
SPEAKER_00:Delta Diva, like I ain't even gonna say nothing because Carrie done said everything that I wanted to say, and then some. But listen, what I do have to say is the only time you fail is when you stop. And if you haven't stopped yet, if you haven't stopped yet, then you haven't failed.
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:So keep going, keep telling yourself, yes, do not give up on you. Exactly, do not give up on you, because once you give up, once you stop, that is when you fail. That is it. So, baby, follow it, follow everything that you want to do. Look, but did you die? Okay, but did you die? And you didn't. People say that you only live once, but no, you live every day, so live every day like it is your last, and do everything in your life that you want to do, and you are going to achieve it. Keep pushing, keep hustling, believing in yourself. Yes, don't know. I hope that that answers your question, Miss Delta Diva. Okay, so listen, since you are my sister from the dirty, dirty soul, we're gonna play this game called grits or go home. So you have to. I'm gonna give you two choices, no overthinking, you just have to pick one that speaks to your soul, and I'ma see if Carrie is a real southern sister. Grit or go home.
SPEAKER_02:All right, I got you.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Let's see, let's see, let's see, let's see. Let's do well wait. I got one even better. Stuff fried or fixed to go. Stuff fried or fixed to go, grits or biscuits.
SPEAKER_02:Stuff fried or fix to go for biscuits?
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:All three.
SPEAKER_00:Stuff, listen.
SPEAKER_02:Stuff, I like stuff sounds real good to me. We got one that we we smother. So that's stuff that's smothered. Um, fried is gallet, like I grew up eating. You know, gala is basically uh another version of a beignet. It's a it's a fried biscuit, and then everything's so good, and my stomach big, my eyes are bigger than my stomach, so I gotta fix it to go because I put too much on my plate.
SPEAKER_00:Same. Okay, which one would you rather? Sweet tea or mimosa.
SPEAKER_03:Sweet. Oh, sweet tea, because I'm too oh god, I drink sweet tea every day.
SPEAKER_02:Sweet tea is my life. I know I need to say mimosa because I'm a mimosa kind of sore, but baby, I got to get my sweet tea, baby, with a lot of lemon. Okay, all my friends. Okay, extra lemon.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, okay. I already know what you're gonna say Sunday soul food or Saturday brunch, Saturday brunch, baby, all day. Okay, this is this is one that people always get mixed up, and this is where I'm gonna know if you a real Southern girl, especially me coming from Louisiana, Cajun or Creole, because there is a difference, girl.
SPEAKER_02:Me and my husband had a whole car fight behind this, so I already know because it's not the same thing, it's not the same thing. Okay, come on, Saval, how your mama now? Oh, okay, because Cajun and Creole is not the same thing, it's different, they they can overlap, but it's not the same. And I tell my husband that all the time. I'm like, baby, we Creole, we're not Cajun. Yeah, maybe you might have somebody from way back up, but Cajun as a Cadiana, they from Canada, they're Canada, Canadians.
SPEAKER_00:Like people, and I hate whenever restaurants say Cajun because they add red pepper to it. That ain't Cajun, that's not Cajun. Stop saying that's Cajun that just has red pepper on it that don't make it Cajun.
SPEAKER_02:But wait, you from Lafayette, right? Yes, I am. So y'all's Louisiana culture is just a little, I mean, it's it's all the same, but it's a little different because I've I've been studying, baby. I've been studying um the La Lafayette folks, and we go up there every now and then, and y'all have some more traditions that we don't have. Y'all's Marty Girl, baby, y'all's Marty Girl baby is very crunk. Y'all got Mr. Weather off. I had somebody from New Orleans the other day, they had never heard of Mr. Weather. I was like, how you haven't heard of him? I heard of them.
SPEAKER_00:Lit. Well, since we are talking about, and yes, I'm about to start some controversy. I'm being messy. This is my last question before I let you go, and I'm being messy, 337 or 504. Food watch. You gotta answer it.
SPEAKER_01:Who got the best food? Do not lie, Carrie. Do not lie. 985, what else? That was not the question. That was not the question. She she she tried to just lie her way on that question. I know y'all got y'all boudin.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, y'all got y'all boudin over there. I like boudin, but it's not a fave. Okay, I know y'all's gumbo look different from ours. Is y'all's gumbo brown gravy or red gravy?
SPEAKER_00:Red, brown. What color yours? Who made gumbo? Okay, so red. The only time it's red is if it have like okra in it because they because some people use like some tomato paste, but most of the time is brown, like because we make our room, uh, roof from scratch. Like, we don't get that out no jaw. Like I've heard that. 504.
SPEAKER_02:I've heard that in uh up there, 337. Y'all had a red gravy.
SPEAKER_00:Now we do have sausage and red gravy. But it's probably the last and it and it is, and it is.
SPEAKER_02:Well, see, my my sister-in-law went to school in La Pierre. Like, we go, you know, we pass through, we go. Like, so the franchise or who saw the brick and spoon, they're from Port Barry, Louisiana. Okay, so like he's from up there by uh Appalousis, right? No, no. Is he from up? It's right there by Appaloosis, right? While the Creole's off, yes, yes, yes, baby. Listen, Lafayette, you're like I show love, okay? All of us, thank you, thank you, Miss Carrie.
SPEAKER_00:Let me tell you something. I don't know if y'all have heard everything that Miss Carrie has done, but Miss Carrie is something powerful, she is something amazing, she is building something that is intentional, rooted, and revolutionary all at the same time. If there's one thing, just one thing that you want to pass on to women, mamas, dreamers, doers to remember after this episode what would your message be?
SPEAKER_02:That you can achieve the desires of your heart. Yes, there is nothing standing between you and success but yourself.
SPEAKER_00:So get out of your own way, get out of your move and go get it, get out the way.
SPEAKER_03:That's right. Wait, okay.
SPEAKER_00:Baby, y'all better run to brick and spoon. If you are on the Gulf Coast, don't walk, run. And while you at it, follow Miss Carrie Paul, baby. Follow Miss Carrie Paul, baby. Where can we follow you and find you?
SPEAKER_02:The Carrie Paul on Instagram, K-E-R-R-I, Paul Like, Paul Bunyan, the Carrie Paul on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat. Y'all hit me on Snapchat. I'll be snapping all over the social medias.
SPEAKER_00:Baby, y'all go out there and follow the Carrie Paul. And remember, you do not have to be perfect to be powerful. No, you just have to be here. No, you just have to be who you are. You just gotta get started. You that's right, and know that you can do anything that you set your mind to because you can. That's right, you can, Miss Kerry Paul. Thank you so much for joining me in the passenger seat. Bye, my babies. Bye.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. Y'all have a good day on purpose. Yes. Oh, hi buddy. Bye. I love it. I love it. I love it.