Today we’d like to introduce you to Freda Wobberton.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story… wow… never thought anyone would be interested. I’m a 37-year-old single mother of 3 boys ages 18,21,22. 2 granddaughters ages 1 & 3. My journey started when I was 12years old. I became the best hair braider in East Texas! I’ve braided hair and had my own braid shop for over 15years! Throughout doing hair and raising my boys a developed a passion for cooking! When I tell you I can cook “I CAN COOK”. So, I decided to further my education in the culinary world. I attended Kilgore college in 2019, also stepping out on faith with my first food truck. It was super hard to manage the salon school and the food truck. But somehow, I made it work with my first big event at the Gregg country fair in 2019. I managed to graduate in 2020 with a certification in culinary. I then felt as if I had so much more to offer in the culinary word. So, a small opportunity came and I was able to open up Fre’Duh’s Scratch Kitchen on June 6, 2020. With very little money I turned to my parents, and my sisters for help to get up and running. They were one of my biggest blessings. Without them, I couldn’t have ever began to open a restaurant. The name of my restaurant FRE’DUH’s came from my late brother David “Boo” Sterling people would always talk about how good I could cook and his response was always Duhhhhh! I started selling my first plates “stuffed Turkey legs” out his mama house in 2019 on birdsong street! I was like Boo this is bigger than what I expected and of course, his response was DUHHHHHH! I just wanna bring a great eating experience to East Texas. We have to travel for exciting food and I want people to have to travel to us for that same food but elevated! Unfortunately, I had to shut down Fre’Duh’s Scratch Kitchen due to the struggle of running a restaurant during a pandemic and also with no funding. I plan on opening back up at the end of January 2022! It’s very hard. I had became a one-woman team. Running my whole restaurant alone. I was thankful for all the volunteers that mended a helping hand when they could I’m thankful for my friends and family! The support my town has shown is real. I’m just lacking the investments that’s needed to get open and stay open. I hope 2022 will be the year for Fre’Duh’s Scratch Kitchen. Yes, I closed down my salon on 2020 I was unable to keep it open and run restaurant. So now I’m hoping for a great investor to discover me and see my dream. It’s hard-working on your dream without the financial resources to make it work!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Rough road. Still a rough road. Financially it has drained me I wasn’t stable to open and run a restaurant. But I’m trying my best to remain positive. I have people who wanna come on and make money off me but don’t wanna help. It’s hard. But I promise to fight for my business
Any big plans?
I want w move to the DFW and open up my Mac and Cheese Island!
Contact Info:
- Email: fredawobberton84@gmail.com
- Instagram: freduhs_scratch_kitchen
- Facebook: Fre’Duh’s Scratch Kitchen
Image Credits
Freda Wobberton
