From grocery stores to soul food, three local small-business owners will share their entrepreneurial stories at a seminar hosted by The Daily Memphian on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 3:30 p.m.

Grocers weigh in on why store shelves are bare

The Small Business Seminar, which will be held at the Memphis Botanic Garden, will feature panelists:

• Rick James: Owner and CEO of Castle Retail Group, which includes Cash Saver, High Point Grocery and South Point Grocery
• Chef Tamra Patterson: Owner of Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe and winner of Food Network’s hit TV show “Chopped”
• Savannah Burton: Owner and therapist of My Memphis Therapist Counseling & Consulting LLC

The three panelists will discuss how they took their business concepts and turned them into reality, as well as the strategies they use to connect with the community.

For James, he believes individuals need to have a “Swiss Army Knife” of skills in order to be a successful business owner.

“For instance,” James said, “I’ve had hundreds of college business students ask me what the best degree would be to have to own their own business. For me, my degree is in accounting. The real trouble spot for most independent operators is the money. It’s not the skills.”

South Point brings full-service grocery shopping back to Downtown

James’ most recent venture is South Point Grocery, located in Downtown Memphis’ South Main Historic District. He wanted to create a unique shopping experience for the thousands of residents in the area who had a “pent-up” desire to have a grocery store.

“We wanted to go beyond that desire for a grocery store and be a place people would want to go repeatedly,” he said. “One of the first weeks we were open, a lady said to me, ‘I hate grocery shopping, but I’m going to walk here every day. I live close enough, and this is so much fun.’ Opening South Point has been really special for our family.”

In 2004, James bought his first four grocery stores, which were Piggly Wiggly’s at the time. He later converted them to Cash Savers.

“My buddy called, congratulating me on buying those stores, and I told him, ‘Yesterday, I could lose my job. Today, I could lose my house,’” James said. “That’s the defining moment of owning your own business.”

Burton has been in the mental health field for 12 years after earning her master’s in counseling from the University of Memphis. After gaining experience in several areas, she decided she wanted to take the leap into having a private practice.

Counselor’s comforting Instagram presence fuels private practice

“I do think that my experience has served me well,” she said. “I didn’t just get out of school and start my own thing in private practice. I learned about dealing with clients from all walks of life and the business side of how those places work, too.”

When the pandemic hit, she wanted to engage more with the mental health community, so she started an Instagram account called MyMemphisTherapist.

“It (the Instagram account) did way better than I ever expected,” she said. “That really jumpstarted everything. When I got to the point of leaving my job and opening a practice, I ended up naming my business after my Instagram account to make everything streamlined.”

Initially, Burton sublet an office from another therapist. After hiring her first employee, she realized she needed a permanent space and found a place on Brookhaven Circle in East Memphis. Today, My Memphis Therapist is a group of four therapists.

“The practice as a whole focuses on women’s health issues like life stressors, depression, anxiety, postpartum mood disorders and disordered eating,” she said. “We do have men clients, but everyone on staff has a passion for seeing women or has experience in women’s health issues.”

Patterson, known as “Chef Tam,” is originally from Texas and opened Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe in 2017 in Midtown before moving to a much larger space at 668 Union Ave. in January 2020. She comes from a long line of cooks, bakers and restaurant owners.

“I started selling plates of food from my house, because I had a son I had to support, and I knew I was supposed to be here in Memphis,” she said in a previous interview with The Daily Memphian.

New Eats: Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe

Patterson made her Food Network debut in 2018, appearing on “Guy’s Grocery Games,” where she beat out three classically trained chefs. She was later on “Ultimate Summer Cook-Off” before winning “Chopped” on the Food Network in April 2022.

With hopes to expand across the U.S., Patterson currently has a second location in Texas.

“A woman I know told me I can’t open two restaurants and I said, ‘Why not? Walmart has Walmarts everywhere. Costco has Costcos all over,’” she said. “As I child, I could not say ‘I can’t.’ We weren’t allowed to. Anything you want to do, you can do it.

“Yes, COVID changed how everybody did everything. But you either curl up and die or you keep going. Either way will be hard, but you get to pick your hard.”

Tickets to the Small Business Seminar are $25 and can be purchased here. Pre-registration is required by Thursday, Sept. 8, at 11 a.m. Registrations and payments will not be accepted at the door. A wine and cheese reception will follow at 5 p.m.