Inspiring Conversations with Lamicka Cottingham of Double Southern 619

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lamicka Cottingham

Hi Lamicka, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story. 
My love for community, fellowship, friends, family, and food is the base of our initial story. At the young age of 4, I had a strong interest in all things food; I watched and helped my parents prepare meals as often as I could, and they never said no! I took note and watched the art of cooking from any angle I could, even at a friend’s or cousin’s house. Yes, we were there to play, but I didn’t mind helping in anyone’s kitchen or garden or walking to the store for a grocery item. 

Even before my first cooking experience, I dreamed beyond, I would cut out pictures of grocery items from coupons and ads from the newspaper. I’d pretend I had A food store that would cook the groceries you purchased in the store. I would make all the items fresh on my toy stove, then I’d feed them to my customers at the time who were, my dolls, stuffed animals and occasionally my little brothers. Eventually, I wanted to create these items in real life. So, I went into the kitchen one day expressing I wanted to “really cook,” and My dad said, “Ok, wash your hands thoroughly and come on in here”! They let me cook, bake, BBQ, and create sauce anytime I wanted to. Sometimes, cooking certain foods wasn’t as satisfying as others because I needed to collect facts, and I always had questions about how certain foods were made. How long the process would take? Would it tastes like this every time? How things were made and where it came from was very important to me even as A child. My parents were pretty much raised farm to table, so it was very hard to explain to me as A child where the food we had actually derived from. I would end up relying on food labels to educate me during our grocery shopping days. 

I was born and raised in Southern California to parents who were born and raised in Southern states. My personal experience with different cultures, communities, and foods varies in the best way possible. The smell of freshly baked bread from my childhood home to the sweet buttery smell of pan dulce and tortillas at the local panderia that alone provided A permanent memory for me, filled with hope that follows me to this day. Growing up purchasing goodies from candy store houses, buying donuts, from the “donut man”, or waiting patiently for the local tamale lady to get to your block, those experiences taught me that about home and street vending, those were the first type of businesses I supported. I loved the ideas so much and I always wanted to have something positive to offer my community, in my teens I would start my journey by baking cheesecakes, brownies and other snacks to gift to my friends. That grew into me creating dessert tables and catering menus for friends and family events in my adulthood, as well as being A graduate of A local Culinary Arts program. 

Present day, we are here with “Double Southern 619,” which was created to re-imagine A business idea in serving all communities, but most importantly, the underserved communities in Southeast and other areas in San Diego. I believe that all communities can thrive when it is uplifted and respected, by those who live and visit here. Keeping our dollars rotating in the communities we live and shop in is so important. When it comes shopping for seasonal, specialty items and for special occasions, we tend to spend outside of our community so often. We believe in innovation and wanted to showcase our seasonal baked goods and other items so that everyone has access. 

We tapped into our roots and culinary training to showcase our micro business by being a full-time cottage food business. Serving all communities! We provide services via vending our products during community pop ups and local markets, we create custom treats and dessert tables for parties and all other life or work events. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has been split open for the majority of our journey. Meaning we started from the bottom, our ideas and plans were thought out and put on paper and written with A pen, so we could not erase our first thoughts. Crowd funding was not an option, with one foot in the door while the other foot was stuck in the road, we knew in order to clear our path we had to keep going. We researched and talked/interviewed random people about any and everything pertaining to how they are supporting local. I was personally shy to speak, and I had to break out of that habit and speak my truth and tell my story so that I would be able to explain our journey with confidence. We gained information by utilizing local business incubators and applying to accelerator programs that we thought would help us move forward with our business ideas. 

We seemed to always be A few steps behind, no matter what, people liked our ideas but were not able to guide us in the exact direction needed. We have seen some of ideas we spoke about come to fruition by other business… that itself can take A toll on you. Being sent in different directions or working with someone not of the same industry can become discouraging, so asking for help I was very reluctant. The end result was that it did take some time to start up effectively before we would see any income coming into the business. Also not having A business mentor was A challenge, on top of established professionals commenting that I should not consider having A business in A low-income community. For a lack of better words, I was applaud for some time from all that was happening, but it did not stop us from pursuing any of our business goals. An obstacle that was there from day one was that we were developing A business from ground up with no help or guidance in an underserved community, telling others our ideas and not being able to make a single move towards it, yes that brought out several more challenges once the pandemic in 2019 developed. Having zero funding and recognizing that you are an underserved business itself is also something that we faced. Having A solid resource for funding and or learning business education is so important to A business like ours. We document our journey and constantly take notes on ways we can improve our work life to minimize business challenges. So many people suggested we start catering or just anywhere to get our name out, we worked in good faith until were able to obtain permits/licensing that would allow us to run our business on A smaller scale, than our original plans to be A full staffed catering business. 

We love to work within different communities, but sometimes the feeling isn’t reciprocated; it can be challenging to share spaces, especially if there is no unity or inclusion. We pride ourselves in being for the people, staying true to our calling and being honest about our journey. Our biggest challenge to date is obtaining a commercial kitchen space to expand our products. Facing one obstacle at a time has helped us keep high hopes and dream big while we remain in business. Starting A business with no income can make or break you! We took a leap, and we landed in a space that works for us. 

As you know, we’re big fans of Double Southern 619. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At Double Southern 619, we are currently vending at local events. We create our own recipes and bake our items fresh and from scratch in small batches. We are known for our gourmet sauces and caramel apples and our warm, soft, and ever-so-delicious cinnamon rolls. 

We are very proud to represent our brand in A unique way to showcase what we call “Double Southern Flair,” inspired by Southern California and Southern-style cooking! We offer dairy and bee-free products by request so that everyone may experience our tasty products. We make treat and dessert tables for any event! Drop-off catering is available. 

We understand the importance of food safety, and we take extra care and precaution with every order. Heading into our 3rd year of vending, we are a part of A local monthly/bi-monthly pop-up shop in Southeast San Diego/Logan Heights, ” Kat Ladys pop-up shop,” where you will find various black-owned, woman and family-owned businesses. We are weekly vendors on Thursdays from 4 pm-7 pm (6 pm Winter hours) at The Thrive Lemon Grove Farmers Market, featuring local produce and an assortment of food, craft, and art vendors. We enjoy running our business alongside our vendor families, and we look forward to joining other locations as we expand. We encourage anyone interested in our journey to keep in touch with us by following our socials, supporting our pop-up shops and markets, and leaving us A review on Google. 

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Knowing our target audience while operating our business with transparency and relatability is most important to our success. In order to run the business, certain skill sets have to take precedence. Creating products and knowing how to cost out recipes help keep us up to date with affordability of products for our customers. We often have to tap into our culinary training to run different parts of our business, and that helps us so much. 

We like to serve freshly made items, but we value the push for food safety at all time, so we are sure to purchase our goods from reputable suppliers. Acknowledging our customers and (potential customers) concerns/questions is very important to us, we are sure to ask about any food allergies, and or any dietary restrictions so we can better serve our customers who may not be able to eat our normal menu items. We are able to adjust certain recipe items so that it can be enjoyed without a risk. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.doublesouthern619.com
• Instagram: 619_foodie
• Facebook: 619foodie

Image Credits
Lamicka S Cottingham