Chef LaToya Larkin
Tamale Disruptor at Black Girl Tamales
Food & Beverages
Education: Art Institute of Atlanta - Springfield College
Houston, TX, USA
Biography
Chef LaToya Larkin is a culinary powerhouse and visionary entrepreneur reshaping the food industry with bold innovation and soulful authenticity. With over 25 years of experience as a classically trained chef and hospitality consultant, she is the founder of Black Girl Tamales a groundbreaking gourmet fusion brand blending Southern soul food with traditional tamale culture.
LaToya’s journey from high school culinary educator to internationally recognized chef is a testament to her resilience, creativity, and passion for purpose-driven food. Her unique take on fusion cuisine has earned her accolades, including multiple best-selling author titles (Wall Street Journal & USA Today), national brand recognition, and partnerships with organizations such as the James Beard Foundation, Goldman Sachs Black in Business, and the Heinz Black Kitchen Initiative.
As a G-Unity Business Coach, motivational speaker, and curriculum writer, she equips aspiring chefs and entrepreneurs with the tools to turn passion into profit. Through her nonprofit, It’s Thyme 4a Change, she mentors at-risk youth, offering culinary and entrepreneurial training that inspires long-term transformation.
Whether she’s developing disruptive recipes, delivering keynotes, or designing courses that blend flavor with financial empowerment, Chef LaToya Larkin is more than a chef she’s a movement. Her motto?
“When South of the Border Meets Southern Comfort.”
Passion
Culinary Innovation, I’m obsessed with pushing culinary boundaries to create fusion food that speaks volumes.
Empowering Others
Whether it’s young chefs, Black women entrepreneurs, or underserved communities I have a heart for mentorship, teaching, and legacy-building. To build people up and make sure they know they belong in every room.
Storytelling Through Food & Words I use my voice and pen to preserve culture, empower entrepreneurs, and shift mindsets.
Turning Passion into Profit with ownership, entrepreneurship, and teaching others how to monetize what they love. I’ve invested in myself so that I can teach others how to win too.
Mindset Transformation
From “second-guessing” to stepping into your boldest self, I’m passionate about mental shifts and personal growth. Whether on stage or one-on-one, I help people trade doubt for clarity and action.
Best Story
It started a drive to go see my daddy in Starbucks drive thru. As i perspire prepared to make that two hour drive back home to Jasper, Texas. I’m listening to a webinar replay on selling a course. She says I know you guys think no one is going to buy your course, but I’m here to tell you that you have a market and someone will buy. She started naming off all these subjects, wood work, yoga, welding , and then she struck a nerve that made me almost choke on my drink and it come out my nostrils.
There’s a woman that makes $5K/Month Teaching Copper Deficiency in Goats.”
Wait, what?!
Still coughing I’m immediately thinking WTF is copper deficiency in goats and if Sis making that kinda money. I know I can. Mind you copper deficiency in GOATS?!
Not business strategy. Not culinary mastery. Not tamale innovation.
But goat nutrition.
And that’s when it hit me.
I’m over here second-guessing my genius, sitting on award-winning ideas, cooking up LEGACY and someone’s cashing in on goat minerals.
That was the slap I didn’t know I needed.
Because the truth is: it ain’t always about what you’re teaching.
It’s about having the courage to teach it.
To own it. To package it. To believe in it enough to hit publish, go live, or send the invoice.
That moment flipped a switch.
It told me: “LaToya, while you’re polishing the gold, somebody’s out here selling rocks with confidence.”
So now?
I don’t wait.
I build. I launch. I serve. And I monetize what I know because if goat deficiency got a market…you bet your sweet cornbread Black Girl Tamales does too.
Origin Story
I didn’t grow up thinking I’d build an award-winning brand out of tamales. I grew up watching my grandmother, Mama Hawthorne, feed entire neighborhoods with love, leftovers, and whatever was in her hands. She didn’t have a culinary degree but she had flavor, soul, and pride. That was my first kitchen. No fancy titles. Just legacy in motion.
I went the formal route became a classically trained chef, taught culinary arts for years, won awards, wrote bestselling books, and consulted for major food brands. But somewhere in that climb, I realized I was teaching students how to chase fine dining dreams while my own story our food was missing from the menu.
Then came the AHA moment.
One day I had leftover tamales sitting in my fridge and thought, “What else can I make with this?” That moment right there changed everything. I saw how one humble tamale could transform into cornbread muffins, brunch cakes, crab cakes, even croutons. I realized tamales weren’t just a dish. They were a canvas. And Black Girl Tamales was born.
That’s when I said, “I’m done asking for a seat at somebody else’s table. I’ll build my own with cornbread, collards, and cultural fusion.”
Now I stand at the intersection of soul food, entrepreneurship, and innovation redefining tradition, mentoring the next generation, and proving that your roots aren’t limitations they’re launchpads.
I am willing to travel
More than 100 miles
When it comes to payments
I generally get paid for speaking but make exceptions
Topics
Best Story
It started a drive to go see my daddy in Starbucks drive thru. As i perspire prepared to make that two hour drive back home to Jasper, Texas. I’m listening to a webinar replay on selling a course. She says I know you guys think no one is going to buy your course, but I’m here to tell you that you have a market and someone will buy. She started naming off all these subjects, wood work, yoga, welding , and then she struck a nerve that made me almost choke on my drink and it come out my nostrils.
There’s a woman that makes $5K/Month Teaching Copper Deficiency in Goats.”
Wait, what?!
Still coughing I’m immediately thinking WTF is copper deficiency in goats and if Sis making that kinda money. I know I can. Mind you copper deficiency in GOATS?!
Not business strategy. Not culinary mastery. Not tamale innovation.
But goat nutrition.
And that’s when it hit me.
I’m over here second-guessing my genius, sitting on award-winning ideas, cooking up LEGACY and someone’s cashing in on goat minerals.
That was the slap I didn’t know I needed.
Because the truth is: it ain’t always about what you’re teaching.
It’s about having the courage to teach it.
To own it. To package it. To believe in it enough to hit publish, go live, or send the invoice.
That moment flipped a switch.
It told me: “LaToya, while you’re polishing the gold, somebody’s out here selling rocks with confidence.”
So now?
I don’t wait.
I build. I launch. I serve. And I monetize what I know because if goat deficiency got a market…you bet your sweet cornbread Black Girl Tamales does too.
Origin Story
I didn’t grow up thinking I’d build an award-winning brand out of tamales. I grew up watching my grandmother, Mama Hawthorne, feed entire neighborhoods with love, leftovers, and whatever was in her hands. She didn’t have a culinary degree but she had flavor, soul, and pride. That was my first kitchen. No fancy titles. Just legacy in motion.
I went the formal route became a classically trained chef, taught culinary arts for years, won awards, wrote bestselling books, and consulted for major food brands. But somewhere in that climb, I realized I was teaching students how to chase fine dining dreams while my own story our food was missing from the menu.
Then came the AHA moment.
One day I had leftover tamales sitting in my fridge and thought, “What else can I make with this?” That moment right there changed everything. I saw how one humble tamale could transform into cornbread muffins, brunch cakes, crab cakes, even croutons. I realized tamales weren’t just a dish. They were a canvas. And Black Girl Tamales was born.
That’s when I said, “I’m done asking for a seat at somebody else’s table. I’ll build my own with cornbread, collards, and cultural fusion.”
Now I stand at the intersection of soul food, entrepreneurship, and innovation redefining tradition, mentoring the next generation, and proving that your roots aren’t limitations they’re launchpads.