June 5, 2025 • 10 mins
Dr. Vanessa Tyler has a conversation with entrepreneur and advocate Faith Oluwadare who shares her experiences as a Black business woman in America. Her portfolio includes Owner of an upscale restuarant in New Jersey (House 157), and founder of A Mother's Road To Zion - a non-profit organization for women with a difficult past, working towards a better future.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
People love to eat at restaurants with good service, amazing
ambiance and incredible food at a reasonable price. But what
if the food brings people together like a bridge crossing
all sorts of culinary lines, different food, different people. It
was a black woman's dream and it has come true.
We have a reservation at House one fifty seven restaurant
(00:24):
now in black Land.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And now, as a brown person, you just feel so invisible.
It's not where we're from. Brothers and sisters are welcome
you to this joyful day.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
We celebrate freedom.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Where we are.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I know someone's heard something and where we're going.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
We the people means all the people.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
The black information that work presents Blackland with your host
Vanessa Tyler.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
When light hands you lemons, you know the old saying,
you make lemonade. That is exactly what Faith Oluwadare has done.
She is a restaurant tour on her way to an empire,
her journey fueled by living up to her name.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Faith, Faith welcome, Thank you, thank you for having me.
Life has hills and valleys and you are on the
mountain now. Talk about being a black woman owning a
business today.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh my, oh my goodness, being a black woman owning
a business day in America, it has its challenges for sure,
powerful at the same time, I'm someone that is constantly
navigating spaces that's not systematically built for someone like me.
You know, I am not only a woman, but I'm black.
(01:40):
I come from Africa, and I am breaking barriers.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
She sure is breaking barriers and crossing them too with food.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Oh my, uh funny you ask that my journey to
being a restaurant owner. It is not the normal story.
So I ten years ago I opened a wedding designing
company focusing on luxury designs, and within just years after that,
(02:12):
I decided to branch into event spaces as well. And
I got to the point where I just wanted my
own property, you know, from dealing with landlord issues to
you know, township issues discriminating against me, I just wanted
to have my own property. And when I found my
current location again, it was supposed to be an event space,
(02:34):
but at the time it was a Portuguese restaurant, a
well known, very popular, doing very well Portuguese restaurant. So
I pivoted and decided that Okay, I'm going to keep
it as a restaurant and maybe have the best of
both words and see how it goes. But within three
months the customers stopped coming because they realized that hands
(02:56):
have changed and not only is it not Portuguese anymore,
it's a black woman that owned it. So I again
had to pivot, and I brought in a good chef,
a well rounded chef that was able to create several
cuisines from different parts of the world. So we came
up with House one five seven. Because the menu is
(03:20):
curated into five different regions, so when you look at
the menu, you have Afrocentric, Latin, Southern Europe, Asia, and
the idea of the restaurant is when you're there to
fill at home, to feel like Grandma's kitchen. And we
specialize in customer service because it is just this concept
(03:40):
that when you go to a black owned restaurant, customer
service is not priority. So for us, we make sure
that people are getting amazing service while eating good food
on Saturday and line it looks like the United Nations
at House one fifty seven. It's an opportunity for people
to try things that they've always heard of but never
had an opportunity. I mean a lot of people have
(04:01):
heard of Jollof Rice but never had an opportunity to try it.
You know, you can try that, you can try oxtail,
you can try lamb chops, you can try so many
things from different parts of the world. So and that's
what our customers really really love about House one fifty seven.
They come there and try different things on the menu
each and every time.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Oh, I love it because you have you have Asian food,
you have Spanish food, you have African food, you have
African American cuisine, Southern cuisine.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yes, absolutely, it's beautiful, Yes, really beautiful to.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Faith Oluwadare. Dare came to America as a child. She
fears the door of opportunity that was so much a
part of America has been slammed shut, especially for black immigrants.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
It's really sadden and it's very unfortunate because truly America
is a melting pie. It really is. And goes back
to House one fifty seven. Again, I didn't come from hospitality,
but I saw it as an opportunity for us to
just be one the two things things that connect us
when it comes to wanting to be entertained as the
human ways is good food and good music. So it
(05:07):
truly was an opportunity to really create that melting pot
where America is a melting pot, whether people want to
believe it or not.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Still, Faith kept the faith her restaurant located in Roselle Park,
New Jersey, proving she has the power to make her
life in America a success.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Things weren't always that peachy for me as it may seem,
but then.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
There were the valleys. Lately abusive relationships have been front
and center due to the Diddy trial, and that's something
sadly you know firsthand.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
At my young age of twenty five, I got married
and immediately after my wedding, I started to becoming abused.
My ex husband was verbally and physically abusive and in
a time and that was very vulnerable for me. I
(06:02):
was pregnant to the entire time of my abuse, and
I say entire time because I'm grateful that I was
able to immediately get out of it. So our marriage
it in the last a year, and the moment we
got married is when he immediately started the physical and
mental abuse. And it's been hard, but I'm grateful that
(06:24):
I have an amazing child with my ex husband. But
I was also able to regain my confidence I'm remarried,
we have two beautiful boys, and it's been eleven years.
But I am not allowing that to define who I am.
I am striving, I am doing great. I am showing
(06:45):
my child that no matter what happened in this life,
you can always get yourself back up. And I'm continuing
to make sure that I'm standing up for other women
that may still be in the situation and letting them
know that that whatever it is that you're going through
does not have to define your future.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Domestic violence Faith made it to the other side. She
is remarried, now a mother of three. She wants to
help others make it out of the pain, the shame,
the fear.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I have a non profit organization called A Mother's Road
to Zion just highlighting everything that I went through and
also for other women to know too that they don't
have to, you know, be defined about their struggle. A
Mother's Road to Zion was found in twenty nineteen, and
(07:34):
it started as therapeutic, you know, just me going on
social media and kind of just speaking about my experience.
After many years later, where I felt like I can
finally walk out of the shame. I sat in shame
for so long after my abuse, because you know, when
you abuse, you tend to assume that it's your fault
(07:55):
that you failed as a wife, as a mother. But
by the grace of God, I was able to get
out of it, and it was very therapeutic for me
to start talking about my experience because no one could
ever imagine faith, you know, the strong faith the business woman,
the entrepreneur could have ever been put in such a situation.
(08:17):
But yes I was. And many other women reached out
and I was able to connect with them and to
share my story.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Wow, yet still you rise. Now you're building your empire
with another restaurant Legacy twenty seven. How are things going
so far? Why are you expanding in New Jersey with
another eatery, this one in Newark?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yes? Yes, oh mind. This one is very intentional because
I am from NewYork. When I came to this country
when I was just eight years old. Newark is where
I touched down, and I, you know, my parents still
live in Newark. I'm so well connected to Noick and
I've been in a restaurant in the street now for
going on three years. I focus heavily on making sure
(09:06):
we are always looking to expand, and I'm so grateful
to even be in a position where I can say
I am purchasing another property, this time a historical building
in York, and it is going very well, with just
a week or so from closing, and in just less
than a year from now, we're going to be open
and hopefully Legacy twenty seven. And the name Legacy again
(09:30):
very intentional because my very first job was fifteen years
old on the same street that this current location is
going to be in. So what a big three sixty
coming around many years later.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
How can people follow you, learn more about your journey
and certainly learn more about the restaurants.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Oh yes, I can be found on Instagram. My name
is I am Ehi Faith on Instagram and the House
one fifty seven we can also be found on Instagram.
That's the best way to reach out to us is
House one fifty seven on Instagram, So at House one
fifty seven and of course if you want to send
an email Hello at house one five seven dot com. Faith.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Thank you so much for your inspiration.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
My pleasure. It was so great speaking to you, and
thank you so much for just having this opportunity for
us to tell our stories.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I'm Vanessa Tyler. I'll always have a new black Land
every week.
People love to eat at restaurants with good service, amazing
ambiance and incredible food at a reasonable price. But what
if the food brings people together like a bridge crossing
all sorts of culinary lines, different food, different people. It
was a black woman's dream and it has come true.
We have a reservation at House one fifty seven restaurant
(00:24):
now in black Land.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And now, as a brown person, you just feel so invisible.
It's not where we're from. Brothers and sisters are welcome
you to this joyful day.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
We celebrate freedom.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Where we are.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I know someone's heard something and where we're going.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
We the people means all the people.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
The black information that work presents Blackland with your host
Vanessa Tyler.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
When light hands you lemons, you know the old saying,
you make lemonade. That is exactly what Faith Oluwadare has done.
She is a restaurant tour on her way to an empire,
her journey fueled by living up to her name.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Faith, Faith welcome, Thank you, thank you for having me.
Life has hills and valleys and you are on the
mountain now. Talk about being a black woman owning a
business today.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh my, oh my goodness, being a black woman owning
a business day in America, it has its challenges for sure,
powerful at the same time, I'm someone that is constantly
navigating spaces that's not systematically built for someone like me.
You know, I am not only a woman, but I'm black.
(01:40):
I come from Africa, and I am breaking barriers.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
She sure is breaking barriers and crossing them too with food.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Oh my, uh funny you ask that my journey to
being a restaurant owner. It is not the normal story.
So I ten years ago I opened a wedding designing
company focusing on luxury designs, and within just years after that,
(02:12):
I decided to branch into event spaces as well. And
I got to the point where I just wanted my
own property, you know, from dealing with landlord issues to
you know, township issues discriminating against me, I just wanted
to have my own property. And when I found my
current location again, it was supposed to be an event space,
(02:34):
but at the time it was a Portuguese restaurant, a
well known, very popular, doing very well Portuguese restaurant. So
I pivoted and decided that Okay, I'm going to keep
it as a restaurant and maybe have the best of
both words and see how it goes. But within three
months the customers stopped coming because they realized that hands
(02:56):
have changed and not only is it not Portuguese anymore,
it's a black woman that owned it. So I again
had to pivot, and I brought in a good chef,
a well rounded chef that was able to create several
cuisines from different parts of the world. So we came
up with House one five seven. Because the menu is
(03:20):
curated into five different regions, so when you look at
the menu, you have Afrocentric, Latin, Southern Europe, Asia, and
the idea of the restaurant is when you're there to
fill at home, to feel like Grandma's kitchen. And we
specialize in customer service because it is just this concept
(03:40):
that when you go to a black owned restaurant, customer
service is not priority. So for us, we make sure
that people are getting amazing service while eating good food
on Saturday and line it looks like the United Nations
at House one fifty seven. It's an opportunity for people
to try things that they've always heard of but never
had an opportunity. I mean a lot of people have
(04:01):
heard of Jollof Rice but never had an opportunity to try it.
You know, you can try that, you can try oxtail,
you can try lamb chops, you can try so many
things from different parts of the world. So and that's
what our customers really really love about House one fifty seven.
They come there and try different things on the menu
each and every time.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Oh, I love it because you have you have Asian food,
you have Spanish food, you have African food, you have
African American cuisine, Southern cuisine.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yes, absolutely, it's beautiful, Yes, really beautiful to.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Faith Oluwadare. Dare came to America as a child. She
fears the door of opportunity that was so much a
part of America has been slammed shut, especially for black immigrants.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
It's really sadden and it's very unfortunate because truly America
is a melting pie. It really is. And goes back
to House one fifty seven. Again, I didn't come from hospitality,
but I saw it as an opportunity for us to
just be one the two things things that connect us
when it comes to wanting to be entertained as the
human ways is good food and good music. So it
(05:07):
truly was an opportunity to really create that melting pot
where America is a melting pot, whether people want to
believe it or not.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Still, Faith kept the faith her restaurant located in Roselle Park,
New Jersey, proving she has the power to make her
life in America a success.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Things weren't always that peachy for me as it may seem,
but then.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
There were the valleys. Lately abusive relationships have been front
and center due to the Diddy trial, and that's something
sadly you know firsthand.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
At my young age of twenty five, I got married
and immediately after my wedding, I started to becoming abused.
My ex husband was verbally and physically abusive and in
a time and that was very vulnerable for me. I
(06:02):
was pregnant to the entire time of my abuse, and
I say entire time because I'm grateful that I was
able to immediately get out of it. So our marriage
it in the last a year, and the moment we
got married is when he immediately started the physical and
mental abuse. And it's been hard, but I'm grateful that
(06:24):
I have an amazing child with my ex husband. But
I was also able to regain my confidence I'm remarried,
we have two beautiful boys, and it's been eleven years.
But I am not allowing that to define who I am.
I am striving, I am doing great. I am showing
(06:45):
my child that no matter what happened in this life,
you can always get yourself back up. And I'm continuing
to make sure that I'm standing up for other women
that may still be in the situation and letting them
know that that whatever it is that you're going through
does not have to define your future.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Domestic violence Faith made it to the other side. She
is remarried, now a mother of three. She wants to
help others make it out of the pain, the shame,
the fear.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I have a non profit organization called A Mother's Road
to Zion just highlighting everything that I went through and
also for other women to know too that they don't
have to, you know, be defined about their struggle. A
Mother's Road to Zion was found in twenty nineteen, and
(07:34):
it started as therapeutic, you know, just me going on
social media and kind of just speaking about my experience.
After many years later, where I felt like I can
finally walk out of the shame. I sat in shame
for so long after my abuse, because you know, when
you abuse, you tend to assume that it's your fault
(07:55):
that you failed as a wife, as a mother. But
by the grace of God, I was able to get
out of it, and it was very therapeutic for me
to start talking about my experience because no one could
ever imagine faith, you know, the strong faith the business woman,
the entrepreneur could have ever been put in such a situation.
(08:17):
But yes I was. And many other women reached out
and I was able to connect with them and to
share my story.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Wow, yet still you rise. Now you're building your empire
with another restaurant Legacy twenty seven. How are things going
so far? Why are you expanding in New Jersey with
another eatery, this one in Newark?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yes? Yes, oh mind. This one is very intentional because
I am from NewYork. When I came to this country
when I was just eight years old. Newark is where
I touched down, and I, you know, my parents still
live in Newark. I'm so well connected to Noick and
I've been in a restaurant in the street now for
going on three years. I focus heavily on making sure
(09:06):
we are always looking to expand, and I'm so grateful
to even be in a position where I can say
I am purchasing another property, this time a historical building
in York, and it is going very well, with just
a week or so from closing, and in just less
than a year from now, we're going to be open
and hopefully Legacy twenty seven. And the name Legacy again
(09:30):
very intentional because my very first job was fifteen years
old on the same street that this current location is
going to be in. So what a big three sixty
coming around many years later.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
How can people follow you, learn more about your journey
and certainly learn more about the restaurants.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Oh yes, I can be found on Instagram. My name
is I am Ehi Faith on Instagram and the House
one fifty seven we can also be found on Instagram.
That's the best way to reach out to us is
House one fifty seven on Instagram, So at House one
fifty seven and of course if you want to send
an email Hello at house one five seven dot com. Faith.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Thank you so much for your inspiration.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
My pleasure. It was so great speaking to you, and
thank you so much for just having this opportunity for
us to tell our stories.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I'm Vanessa Tyler. I'll always have a new black Land
every week.
Host
Vanessa Tyler
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