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Meet Quinetta Hall of Q's Cakes - Quinetta Hall from Q's Cakes & More in Albany, Georgia, sits down with Paula to share her inspirational story. Don't miss it!
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#pauladeen #loveandbestdishes
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0:00
- Y'all I'm so happy to be here with this lady today
0:05
and be able to introduce her to y'all.
0:09
This is a friend of mine from a Albany.
0:11
Her name is Q. Hall.
0:14
Quinetta?
0:15
- Quinetta.
0:16
- Quinetta is her birth name,
0:19
but y'all know if you know me
0:21
I'm not all that great with names,
0:23
(all laugh)
0:25
but she has a special place in my heart
0:29
because her story is much like mine,
0:33
pull it up from the bootstraps.
0:35
And she put her journey in a book,
0:42
and it's called "Naughty and Necessary."
0:46
I know that, I know that.
0:48
And I know what you're saying, girl,
0:50
but I met Q through Bubbles.
0:55
I had been to Albany and she said,
0:58
"I want you to meet this girl.
1:01
Y'all will just get along famously.
1:05
And Susan went on to say that she has opened a bakery
1:09
in Albany,
1:10
and we went, we had lunch.
1:11
Everything was delicious.
1:13
- Great.
1:14
- So Q is willing to share her story
1:20
with all of y'all.
1:22
And is your book available?
1:24
- It is on Amazon, Kindle. - Good. Yes.
1:27
- Good, because we're not gonna have time
1:29
probably to touch everything in this book,
1:32
but so tell us your story Q.
1:36
- Okay, the title of the book, "Naughty but Necessary,"
1:39
it comes from a place where in my life
1:42
I decided to take the wrong road,
1:45
and the wrong road brought me back to where I am now.
1:48
So I don't regret it.
1:50
- No, redemption is a beautiful thing.
1:52
- Yes it is.
1:53
And in my choosing things that I did
1:57
in my life a while ago,
2:00
it was what made me who I am today.
2:02
- Absolutely.
2:03
- So I went down the life of doing illegal things
2:07
such as fraud and different things like that.
2:10
- Wow. - That landed me in prison.
2:13
- And in my- - Prison or jail?
2:15
- No, prison. - Prison.
2:17
- Yes.
2:18
- Wow. - I went to prison twice.
2:20
I was sentenced to prison three times.
2:23
Yes. Yes.
2:24
And not only was I sentenced to prison,
2:27
I had my oldest son in prison.
2:30
I was only able to nurture him 24 hours.
2:35
I never nurtured him as an infant.
2:37
I came home, he was three years old.
2:40
- Oh my goodness!
2:43
- Yes.
2:44
So it was at that moment that I knew things had to change.
2:49
When I came home and I saw him,
2:52
and he was three years old walking around
2:54
and I had never nurtured him as an infant,
2:57
thank God for my family and his father.
2:59
He was one of the ones that came with my family to get him.
3:04
I decided to straighten my life.
3:05
- Did you have him in prison?
3:07
- I did.
3:08
- You gave birth to him
3:08
in prison? - I did.
3:09
I gave birth to him in Baldwin County.
3:12
I did and they only allow you to keep the babies 24 hours.
3:18
So I had to send him home.
3:20
And I sent him home with my family,
3:22
and they took great care of him until I got home.
3:25
And when I got home,
3:26
I almost decided to go back down that road
3:30
and I had to look in the mirror and ask myself,
3:33
are you gonna do the same thing again?
3:36
But before I came home,
3:38
I prayed and I asked God
3:40
to give me something to go back out with
3:42
and don't release me until I had my GED.
3:46
So I took my test one time.
3:48
I hadn't been to school in 20 years and I passed,
3:52
and I got my release date in two weeks after that.
3:57
So I left, I came home, and I started my new life.
4:01
And with my new life, it was so challenging.
4:05
- I was gonna say, was it hard?
4:07
- Yes, yes, it was very hard.
4:10
- Very tempting. - Yes, it was very tempting
4:12
because the main thing is nobody wants to give you a chance
4:16
when you straighten up, nobody.
4:17
You have to really prove yourself.
4:19
- Yeah. Yeah.
4:20
- Because people just don't believe you
4:21
because you say you've changed.
4:23
- Right. Right.
4:25
And that's sad, but it's very true.
4:29
- It is.
4:30
And I really wish this day and time
4:32
that people didn't have to take the bottom
4:34
of the totem pole type jobs
4:37
to take care of their family because it's hard.
4:40
And I can remember begging for a job at Krispy Kreme
4:43
like it was Millers or Procter & Gamble.
4:46
But as time went on, things got better.
4:49
I finally decided to totally give my life to Christ
4:53
and just ask God, I said, I've tried everything else,
4:55
I wanna try you.
4:57
So once I decided that,
4:59
things start to open,
5:01
He started to open doors for me.
5:03
Great things started to happen, not at once.
5:06
It was still a struggle,
5:07
but I did get the job on the Marine base.
5:09
And- - Ooh!
5:11
- Yes. - That was a good job,
5:12
wasn't it? - It was.
5:13
It was the best job I ever had.
5:15
- And they were fine with your record
5:17
and everything. - Yes. Yes.
5:18
It was just truly amazing how I got that job.
5:21
I was working as an optometrist assistant
5:24
and a lady came in
5:25
one Saturday that I was working for someone else.
5:29
I wasn't even supposed to be there.
5:31
So I know it was God ordained. - Or you had taken.
5:33
- I had taken that that Saturday from someone else
5:37
'cause she had something to do.
5:38
The lady that came in
5:40
her boyfriend had a position at the Marine base available.
5:46
And she said to me, because I was checking her out,
5:49
and I said, Lord, I'll be glad when I find a full-time job.
5:53
It was part-time.
5:55
But God has sustained me for five years on a part-time job.
5:59
I never missed anything.
6:01
And it was at that moment she said,
6:05
"Do you want a full-time job?"
6:08
I said, I do.
6:09
And she said, "My boyfriend have a position at."
6:12
And I said, where?
6:13
And she said, "The Marine base."
6:15
I said, I've had so many doors closed in my face.
6:19
I said, so you're telling me I can have a job
6:22
at one of the best places in Albany to work,
6:25
at the Marine base?
6:26
She says, "Do you have a resume?"
6:28
And it was like 25 years ago,
6:31
so people wouldn't walking around
6:33
with computers and laptops.
6:34
So I said, I have one.
6:37
She said, "Would you send it to him?"
6:39
I left work one day because she ran behind me.
6:41
God used this lady to push me into where I needed to be.
6:45
And I went on the interview.
6:47
I got a phone call from a recruiter,
6:49
it was as a contractor.
6:51
And the recruiter called me from outta state,
6:54
and he said to me, "I'm flying in to interview you."
6:57
I said, me?
6:59
I said, you gonna interview me?
7:01
- You were worth an air?
7:02
- Right, I said, right. - All right!
7:04
- I said me.
7:05
And he said, "Yes ma'am."
7:06
I will be there, he told me where to be.
7:08
I went.
7:09
He was very impressed with my interview,
7:11
but there was another young lady that had been referred
7:15
by the person that was leaving the position.
7:17
So they normally honor that person's referral.
7:21
Well, this time they didn't.
7:24
We was neck and neck.
7:25
She was single, she was raising boys just like me.
7:28
And we had to interview a second time.
7:31
And we had to bring the person
7:33
who we would be working for out.
7:35
Once we interviewed, he saw me,
7:37
and once I finished the interview, I got up to leave,
7:40
and he told the recruiter, "I want her."
7:43
So I started working on the Marine base.
7:46
And I stayed there for six years.
7:48
God kept me gainfully employed as a contractor
7:53
for six long years.
7:55
And one day all the government stuff,
7:58
the political stuff was going on.
7:59
They started laying people off,
8:01
and I asked my supervisor,
8:04
I said, is my job secure?
8:06
I said, am I okay?
8:07
And she says, "Yes."
8:09
And I had met back up with a friend from over 20 years ago,
8:13
and he told me, he says, "That's not gonna be the place
8:15
that God have you."
8:17
And I said, what are you talking about?
8:18
I like my job.
8:20
I said, this is a nice job.
8:22
It takes care of me.
8:23
I don't know what you're talking about.
8:25
And he says, "Go ahead and take your Safe Serve license,"
8:28
because I was baking it during holidays for people.
8:32
And he says-
8:32
- What's a Safe Serve license?
8:34
- Like when you working into an establishment
8:37
that consists of food,
8:38
you have to know all the rules, you have to know-
8:41
- Is that a government thing or is it?
8:45
- It's just across the board.
8:47
Every restaurant have to have it.
8:48
Every restaurant have to have it.
8:50
So he told me to go ahead and take it, and I did.
8:53
And once I take it, I took the wrong one.
8:57
I had very little money
8:58
'cause I was trying to take care of my kids.
9:00
I had a son in college.
9:02
And by this time the son that I had in prison
9:07
he was in college.
9:08
- Oh! - Yes.
9:09
- Where was he going to college?
9:10
- He went to college at Pensacola State.
9:12
He went on a scholarship, we didn't have to pay
9:15
for anything. - What kind of scholarship?
9:16
- A basketball scholarship.
9:17
- Oh!
9:18
- He's 6'5".
9:20
He's an amazing- - No!
9:21
- Yes, he's an amazing young man.
9:23
You met Tristan.
9:24
You didn't meet Tyrone.
9:26
- Okay, I can't remember. - Yes.
9:27
- You had some family there that day.
9:29
I didn't- - That was Tristan, my son.
9:30
- Okay. - Yes.
9:32
And we went, we did that.
9:34
I took the test again, I passed it.
9:37
And once I passed the test, I got a call from my supervisor.
9:42
- At the Marine base? - Yes.
9:44
She said...
9:45
I got a text first, she said, "I'm sorry."
9:48
Then I looked behind me
9:49
and my immediate supervisor was walking in my cubicle
9:52
and he said, "Ms. Hall, can you go to the office with me?"
9:56
I said, I already know what y'all gonna do.
9:58
I started grabbing my stuff.
10:00
All I knew I was gonna bake.
10:01
So I grabbed my stuff, I followed him,
10:04
and I never looked back.
10:06
I had to be reminded,
10:07
because at that time because they laid me off,
10:10
I was eligible for unemployment.
10:13
My sister called me and she said,
10:14
"Did you file your unemployment?"
10:16
I said, what unemployment?
10:18
She said, "Oh my goodness, you forgot about your money?"
10:21
I said, I did.
10:22
I said, but I'ma be working, I'm working.
10:24
She said, "So you're gonna bake?"
10:28
God gave me to clean my den out.
10:31
It was adjacent to my home.
10:33
And He said, make it a bakery, full service bakery.
10:36
So I decorated it.
10:38
I made it a whole bakery.
10:39
They had just came out with the...
10:44
It was a Safe Serve,
10:49
not Safe Serve,
10:49
but it was something with the Department of Agriculture
10:52
Cottage Food License
10:54
that allows you to-
10:56
- Never heard of that. - Yes.
10:57
- Now how many years ago was that
10:59
that you got that license?
11:00
- That was seven years ago,
11:03
and they just started it.
11:05
And it's a license
11:07
that allow you to bake and sell outta your home
11:10
- No! - Yes.
11:11
'Cause I wanted to do things decent and in order.
11:13
- Well that was me.
11:16
I got a business license,
11:17
but I wasn't preparing the food where I was supposed to be.
11:20
- Right.
11:21
- My home was cleaner and better
11:25
than where I was supposed to be preparing the food.
11:28
So that I'm happy to know
11:31
that they have come up with a law like that.
11:35
- Yes.
11:36
- I'm so happy to hear that.
11:38
- Yes.
11:39
And it has helped so many people.
11:41
- Absolutely.
11:42
- It has helped.
11:43
So the department of agriculture
11:45
came out and they inspected my home.
11:48
So they inspect you, you get the fire department out,
11:52
you know, the whole thing. - Yes.
11:53
- And I started going full force building my people.
11:58
I started building my audience,
12:00
building my customers, and they was coming.
12:05
I stayed there two years,
12:06
but it had gotten so busy.
12:09
People was jumping.
12:10
I lived on Gillionville,
12:11
which is one of the main highways in Albany.
12:14
And people started parking in the middle of Gillionville,
12:18
letting kids jump out the car, and come in the bakery.
12:24
And I looked out the window and I saw that.
12:26
I said, oh my gosh!
12:27
I said, somebody's gonna get killed.
12:29
I said, I gotta get out of this house.
12:31
And I had already gotten my whisper from the Lord saying,
12:36
"Your time is up here."
12:38
And I said, but I don't have any money.
12:40
Where am I going?
12:41
What am I gonna do?
12:43
So I told my godmother, which is my prayer partner.
12:46
She said, "Go find your building."
12:48
- Your prayer partner encouraged you to go find-
12:51
- Find a building. - Find a building.
12:53
- I wasn't financially prepared to get it,
12:55
but I went to find it.
12:56
- Yes. - And I found one
12:57
because one of my friends, she's a surgeon.
13:01
Well, she was in Albany,
13:02
now she's gone back to New York.
13:04
She told me she knew of a building.
13:06
I went to talk to the man and I told him, I said,
13:09
if you have this building when I come back
13:11
I'm gonna get it one day.
13:12
And he was like, "Yeah, okay."
13:15
I came back a year later and it was still empty.
13:18
And I said is my building?
13:20
Yes. Yes. - Is that the one
13:21
I've been in?
13:22
- No, that's the one before that one.
13:24
I stayed there for five years,
13:26
in that first building.
13:28
And where was it located?
13:29
- It was 1406, Dawson Road.
13:31
It was up further towards Slappey.
13:33
- Okay.
13:34
- That's where I had my first commercial building
13:37
for five years.
13:38
So I stayed there and business was good,
13:42
but it wasn't a really busy part of town.
13:45
And I eventually moved out to where you came,
13:48
and business has been great out there.
13:50
It's near the mall, across from Publix, just everything.
13:54
So my customers have been very supportive,
13:57
and through it all, I've done a lot there.
14:00
I have offered kids decorating classes.
14:06
I have come out with a stream of vending machines
14:08
that are catered to just me.
14:10
- No! (Q laughs)
14:12
Listen, when I visited,
14:15
Q had put in, I think it was your first vending machine.
14:19
- Yes. - You could walk up to it,
14:21
it was on a sidewalk in like a strip mall,
14:24
you could walk up, put your money in,
14:26
and select what kinda cake or-
14:28
- Yes. Did you have savory as well?
14:30
- Yes. - Was that your first one?
14:32
- Yes. Yes, - And only one?
14:34
- Yes. Yes.
14:35
- I thought that was the neatest idea,
14:40
because sometimes you just don't want a whole cake,
14:42
you just want a slice.
14:45
I thought it was genius.
14:47
- And when you got out of the car, you did tell me that too.
14:50
I was like, oh, she liked the idea.
14:52
And you said-
14:53
- Y'all, I'm gonna have to take a break because I've got,
14:56
what is that thing called?
14:58
- Robot.
14:59
- The robot vacuum. (laughs)
15:01
And we tried to turn it off
15:03
and Mildred just keeps turning back on and keeps vacuuming.
15:06
(Q laughs)
15:08
So I'll be right back.
15:10
I'm going to shut Mildred up.
15:12
Well, I went back there to check on her
15:14
and she told me she said the Roomba is already off.
15:17
So maybe she's done for the day.
15:20
(Q laughs)
15:21
So now, how many of those machines do you have now?
15:24
- I have now three.
15:25
I have one in the Columbus Mall, one in the Courthouse,
15:29
and I have one at the store outside of my building.
15:32
- Okay. All right.
15:33
Now, how is the Columbus Mall doing?
15:36
- It's doing good.
15:37
- How do you replenish it being-
15:39
- We go weekly, weekly.
15:41
- Oh, okay. - Yes.
15:42
- And the Courthouse?
15:44
- The Courthouse is doing good.
15:45
The people of Albany- - Which is your number one
15:46
vending?
15:47
- The one at my shop.
15:48
Yes, the one at my shop.
15:50
- Genius!
15:51
(both laugh)
15:53
I was so proud of you.
15:55
- Thank you. - Oh,
15:56
when I walked up to your place
15:58
and saw that vending machine.
16:02
So how old are your children now?
16:04
- Okay, my children now,
16:06
I have a daughter that's 38.
16:08
(Paula gasps)
16:09
- How can that be when you're just 39?
16:11
(Q laughs)
16:14
- I have a son that's 28.
16:16
That's the one that I had in prison
16:18
that graduated from college, yes.
16:20
And then I have a son that's 19.
16:23
That's the one you met.
16:23
You met Tristan. - Yes, yes, yes.
16:26
All right, now the son that graduated from college,
16:28
what is he doing and how is-
16:29
- He's working for the City of Albany.
16:32
- Wonderful. Wonderful. - Yes.
16:35
- Your story is so touching to me, Q,
16:38
because it sounds so much like my story.
16:43
The only thing I was not in a prison,
16:48
a government prison.
16:49
I was in a prison of my own.
16:52
- Yes.
16:54
- But other than that, that's about the only difference.
16:57
And once I took responsibility for myself, Q,
17:03
it was like God had me right where I was supposed to be.
17:08
- Yes.
17:09
- And the miracles just came, and came, and came.
17:13
- Wow!
17:15
- Because I was from the era that you got married,
17:19
your husband took care of you,
17:21
you took care of the house and the children.
17:25
So that was my mentality.
17:28
But one day I got up and I said,
17:32
I'm gonna have to move out of that way of thinking.
17:34
- Right. Right. - And I'm gonna have
17:36
to take responsibility for myself.
17:39
And wonderful things started happening,
17:41
and it sounds like that was the same thing
17:44
that happened to you.
17:45
- Yes. Yes.
17:47
- I'm so proud.
17:48
I'm so happy that you're here with me
17:50
because there are people out there
17:53
that need to hear your story.
17:55
- Yes. Yes. - And they need to hear
17:56
my story. - Right.
17:58
- Because we bring hope.
18:00
- Yes.
18:01
- I've experienced hopelessness
18:05
and that's a terrible, terrible feeling.
18:08
- It is. - To have to walk around with.
18:10
- It is. - So you're my hero.
18:12
You're one of my heroes. - Aw, so sweet!
18:14
You're one of mine!
18:16
I've been loving you forever.
18:17
(both laugh)
18:19
- Well, thank you, Q.
18:20
- And I actually started something since I saw you last.
18:23
- What? - I'm doing a pink table
18:25
and- - A paint?
18:27
- A pink. - Pink table.
18:28
- Pink table where women on the go sit around the table.
18:32
And we talk about things that happen in everyday life.
18:37
I just launched my first one.
18:39
It's on my YouTube channel,
18:41
"Mixing It Up With Miss Q."
18:42
- "Mixing It Up With Miss Q."
18:45
- Yes. - "Mixing It Up With Miss Q"
18:48
on YouTube.
18:49
- Yes.
18:50
So it was a success, it was amazing.
18:53
And they talked about two other ladies
18:55
that had gone to prison, redeemed themselves in Albany,
18:58
and is doing well.
18:59
- Well, I'm gonna go visit you.
19:02
I'll visit you on your YouTube channel
19:04
and I hope you'll visit me on my YouTube channel.
19:07
- Yes I follow you.
19:09
- I started "Quarantine Cooking"
19:13
when everything got shut down
19:14
and everybody had to stay at home.
19:16
And I would just worry about what if somebody's been
19:24
at home by themselves and don't-
19:26
- Right.
19:27
- So, I said let's just do some quarantine cooking.
19:30
I still call it that.
19:32
- Right. - But what's the name of it
19:33
now Eddie?
19:34
Somebody changed it.
19:36
- [Eddie] "Love & Best Dishes."
19:37
- "Love & Best Dishes"
19:38
- Okay, that's awesome. - I still like
19:40
"Quarantine Cooking."
19:41
- Okay. Okay. (laughs)
19:43
- So Q has driven from Albany today to be here with us.
19:49
And I hope you won't miss any of the videos
19:52
because she's actually gonna make three videos for us today
19:58
and share three of maybe her favorite recipes.
20:02
So please don't miss any.
20:04
But I did want you to know her background and her story
20:09
and where she has come from and where she has gotten to.
20:13
It's truly a heart-warming story.
20:18
- So don't forget, "Naughty but Necessary."
20:22
It's on Amazon, it's on Kindle,
20:26
and you can buy it out of my store.
20:29
- Wonderful.
20:31
Thank you, Q. - Thank you.
20:32
- Now let's get our butts in the kitchen and start cooking.
20:35
(both laugh)
20:36
How about it?
20:37
(both laugh)
20:38
- That was good. - What you gon' cook for us?
#Food & Drink
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