Today we’d like to introduce you to Lakesha Daley.
Hi Lakesha , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My husband, **Ezron**, and I share a deep love for hospitality, food, and bringing people together. Ezron is originally from **Kingston, Jamaica**, while I am a **native of Daufuskie Island, South Carolina**. Together, we bring more than **60 years of combined experience** in the hospitality and food and beverage industry.
Over the years, we realized that we often had to travel outside of the Lowcountry to experience the authentic Caribbean culture, flavors, music, and atmosphere that we loved. We began asking ourselves, *Why should we have to travel to enjoy these experiences when there are so many people right here who share the same love for Caribbean food and culture?*
That question inspired us to create something of our own.
**Fourteen years ago, we turned our passion into a business**, bringing Caribbean flavors, culture, hospitality, and our personal heritage together right here in the Lowcountry.
What began as a vision has grown into a family-owned business built on **culture, community, great food, and genuine hospitality**. Our goal has always been more than serving a meal—we want our guests to experience the warmth, flavors, music, and traditions that make Caribbean and Lowcountry culture so special.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
A Journey of Perseverance, the journey has not always been a smooth one.
As a small, family-owned and operated business, we have faced our share of challenges and roadblocks. Competing with larger businesses with bigger marketing budgets and greater resources has always been a tough fight. We never had a large advertising budget to tell our story or introduce ourselves to the entire community. In many ways, we have been a bit of a **hidden gem** in the Lowcountry.
But we never allowed those challenges to take away from our passion or our commitment to what we created.
Instead, we continued to show up, serve our customers, and provide something special and unique to the community. And every day, we continue to meet new people who discover us for the first time—sometimes by simply stumbling upon our restaurant, and sometimes because they are looking for that familiar craving for **authentic Jerk Chicken, Caribbean flavors, and a taste of home**.
### The Community That Believed in Us
During COVID-19, we experienced something that reminded us why we started this journey in the first place: **the power of community**.
Our local customers rallied around us and provided incredible support during an extremely difficult time for small businesses. That support gave us the confidence and opportunity to expand, and we opened a second location on **Hilton Head Island**.
The Hilton Head location gave us a larger storefront where we were able to do more than serve food. We created a place where people could gather, celebrate, enjoy music, experience Caribbean culture, and simply have a good time. It allowed us to employ more family members and create even more opportunities for our family and our community.
It was an exciting chapter for us, and we had a lot of fun building that location and watching it grow.
Unfortunately, the building was eventually sold to a restaurant group and the space was repurposed. As a result, we had to close that location and begin again with just one location.
### Still Here. Still Growing.
Starting over has not been easy, but we remain committed to our vision.
For us, this business has never been simply about selling food. It is about **sharing our cultures, creating community, providing genuine hospitality, supporting our family, and giving people in the Lowcountry an experience they don’t have to travel somewhere else to find.**
We are proud of how far we have come over the past 14 years. We are proud of the people who have supported us, the family members who have worked alongside us, and every customer who discovered us and came back.
Most importantly, we still believe in what we created.
**We are still here. We are still passionate. And we are ready for the next chapter.**
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are a full-service restaurant that creates Caribbean Comfort foods. I’m most proud of being able to employee family and create a welcoming atmosphere where the customers are treated like family as well.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
My passion for food, culture, hospitality, and entrepreneurship began long before I ever imagined owning a business.
I grew up mostly on Daufuskie Island, a small island in the Lowcountry measuring approximately three miles by five miles and accessible only by boat. Growing up there was a very different experience from what many people know today. Life was simple, close-knit, and deeply connected to family, tradition, the land, and the water.
As a child, I was often quiet and kept to myself. But I found something special in spending time with my grandmother.
I would help my grandmother prepare traditional Gullah treats that she would sell to tourists visiting the island. I didn’t realize it at the time, but those moments were teaching me much more than how to cook. I was learning about hard work, serving people, creating something with your own hands, and the importance of turning a skill or passion into an opportunity.
Those experiences planted the seeds of both my love for cooking and my entrepreneurial spirit.
Ezron, shared similar experiences, growing up in rural Kingston Jamaica. He spent much time in the kitchen with his Grandmother who sold treats to the local community. Ezron o the other hand was very outspoken and adventurous. Which led him to move out early and go across Island to the tourist mega Montego Bay, where he studied hospitality and culinary arts and fell in love with the industry.
Years later, those same lessons would become the foundation for something much bigger.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://RedStripesSc.Net
