ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Celebrities across the U.S. rave that her food gives them a taste of home. With a reimagined line of her signature seasonings, she’s taking the flavor up a notch.
Chef Jojo Davis said her love for cooking started when she was 13.
“I was bullied in school,” Davis said. “So when I came home, what I found was cooking was my safe space. I was seasoning like I was 70.”
By the time she went to high school, Davis told her mom she no longer wanted to pursue her diploma. “She took me to the Dean and the Dean said, ‘JoJo, what do you want to do in life?’”
She wanted to own a restaurant and the Dean challenged her thinking, asking her how she’d accomplish the goal without an education.
At 16, Davis dropped out of high school, but a few years later, she bet on herself.
“I opened my first restaurant and one of my first customers was guess who, my Dean,” Davis said.
Balancing a restaurant in St. Louis, while also trying to get her foot in the door, she learned rather quickly – what’s for you, is for you in the city’s entertainment industry.
In 2010, Davis got a call about providing food for the cast of one of Tyler Perry’s stage plays. The person who was originally tapped for the job got sick.
Someone recommended her, but she said another gatekeeper tried to stop it. Perry’s road manager called her to ask for the menu and she delivered, even going into debt for the opportunity. “My team thought I was crazy, I had ice sculptures because I knew this was my moment to make an impression on Tyler Perry.”
With live fish in the middle of the table, Davis made a strong impression. So strong, in fact, that Perry came out to meet, hug and tell her how great of a job she did.
She received a $500 tip and knew there’d soon be a shift in business, eventually relocating to Atlanta.
“That’s when New Edition called,” Davis said. “I got Toni Braxton, I got The Isley Brothers.”
She’s even worked with notable names, including: Frankie Beverly, Chaka Khan, Ice Cube, Katt Williams, Big Boi, SWV, Maxwell and LL Cool J.
With more than 300 celebrity clients, Davis continues to build her clientele through word of mouth.
“And the one thing that has always been said is ‘JoJo, man, you cook like you love us,’” Davis said.
Recently relaunching Jojo’s Seasoning, JoJo is seeing a demand she hadn’t imagined.
The idea was birthed from a reality that many people face: having a sibling whose strong suit is not cooking.
“My older sister can’t cook, so years ago she called me and she said, ‘Joe, I’ve got this boyfriend that I’m thinking I need you to cook me some food,’” Davis said.
Davis mixed up the seasonings for her sister, which became a hit in her sister’s kitchen. Davis had a light-bulb moment.
She first launched her brand in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic — a time when survival overshadowed growth. But with renewed support, she continues to build a legacy.
With goals to launch a cookware line in 2026, Davis said she will continue to raise the bar for future generations.
“I tell people on this journey your job is to just stay on the course and to stay strong and don’t give up,” she said. “Because if you give up, that one second, that next day could have been your breakthrough.”
Her seasonings can be ordered here. And to celebrate her mother’s victory over HER2-positive stage 4 breast cancer, a part of the proceeds will be donated to cancer research.
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