A spice entrepreneur hopes to turn a family tradition into a big name brand

Shabria Jerome of South Boston quit her career as a nursing assistant and launched her own spice business, Continental Flavor, during the pandemic. (GBH News)

Before the pandemic, Shabria Jerome worked as a nursing assistant and took classes to become a nurse. In March of 2020, when schools shut down, she took a leave of absence to take care of her daughter, who was in kindergarten at the time. But soon schools went remote, and Jerome faced the same conundrum millions of working parents found themselves in. She had to quit her job.

“I didn’t have a choice but to leave my job because I had no child care for my daughter, which was really hard,” said Jerome, 29. “So, that was that!”

Once at home helping her daughter with schoolwork and searching for remote work, she found herself unable to stop thinking about incidents with white supervisors from her past jobs. She recalled times where she and other workers of color were shut out of opportunities that were given to newer white colleagues and experienced what she believes was “work trauma,” thinking back on the racism she’d been subjected to. Jerome knew what she would do if she was the boss, and how she would treat her workers. And a new question rose in her mind: “What am I leaving behind for my daughter?”

So she decided to start her own business and be her own boss. Her motivations echo those of other Black-owned startups, in particular among Black women — a stunning 17% of whom owned or were starting a business last year in the United States. Jerome had never met any entrepreneurs and knew nothing about building a business, but she wanted to craft a different future for herself and her daughter.

Jerome was born in Louisiana and grew up with “a family of cooks.” She vividly remembers watching her Uncle Joe “playing with spices” and everyone cooking Creole dishes. On a phone call, her sister Ashley Alvarado suggested “out of the blue” that Jerome turn that family tradition into a business creating seasoning blends. Within days, Jerome had filled a notebook with ideas.

“Literally I had a conversation with God and was just sitting there like, ‘I need something to do,’” Jerome said. “And that’s when she [my sister] gave me the idea. … It was so casual, so nonchalant, like, you know. So I felt like she was pretty much the vessel I needed.”