♪ this week on our world with black enterprise, clear the kitchen. we sit down with the queen of st. louis soul food. >> family is very important to me because those are the people you can depend on. if i have them taste that chicken, and it tastes good, it goes on the menu. >> black and brown people being healthier than ever before, being able to live longer and do great things and that has held us down. asking for assistance, yet, we don't know who we're looking for becaus [ male announcer there are some moments you spend your life preparing for.

not to prove them wrong, but yourself right. so you work harder. drive stronger. and before you know it, you didn't just beat the game... who is that? don't know. but he's going places. [ male announcer ...you changed it. [ dad hey, son, ready for the interview? i got this!!!! [ male announcer introducing the 2014 next generation corolla. toyota. let's go places.

welcome to "our world with black enterprise."

she has been heating up tv screens across the country, now she shares her recipe for success. mrs. robbie montgomery. can i call you mrs. robbie? >> yes. >> congratulations, you're on the third season of your show now. >> i can hardly believe it. i was praying that it made it through number one, and now we're on three. >> the reason i love it and my family loves it is we get to see the real you. >> i don't have time to act. i just go for the throat, go right at it and keep going. >> and for those that don't know, it's based on you running your business. >> yes, a mom, son, we don't get along at all. my sister, my nephew who is lazy, we're giving him jobs and opportunities, he's not taking advantage of them. i have a grandson that's doing bad in school, so it's an

everyday family trying to make it. >> and people connect to that because it's a real family. >> that's right, for real, it's really real. >> and the business is real as well, you're a very successful entrepreneur. >> yes i am, thank god. >> three businesses, right? >> yes, st. louis is my home, i was a professional singer for many years, i moved back home and the whole county embraced me. my mom always said you can come home when you can't go anywhere else. singing is my first love, cooking is my second, and that's what i did. opened a restaurant, 15 years ago, my first one, and st. louis just embraced me, supported me, and we're helping each other. everybody saying i put st. louis on the map, but st. louis put me on the map.

>> most new businesses fail in five years, you not only didn't fail, you grew and expanded. what was your secret to success? >> people didn't believe in me at first. all i got was negative input. nothing positive. so that was kind of my inspiration. i was focused on this. i knew if i had a product that was good, it would work. i would go all over looking for the best restaurant, and especially soul food, it's a diei dieing breed. so my mom taught me and i wanted to spread it with my family. it's a good product, people will enjoy it and support you. >> the first restaurant was great, the second one was just as great. that's the one that most people go to, mangrove, but the third one, uppercrust. >> that is like the disney world of restaurants. >> exactly. ♪

>> hey. >> been waiting on you. >> do you have good news? >> i want you to sit down. >> don't tell me to sit down. getting the upper crust open has really been a challenge. i had all kinds of obstacles, i spent a year applying for a loan, and then i found out i need a new roof, the kitchen has been held up -- >> that's what we have been waiting on for 18 months. >> [ bleep. yes! all you have to do is open up! [ bleep all right! >> i knew it! >> what were the challenges of making that big project work. i understand the restaurant piece, but what did you have to do? >> i used the same principals, i always wanted to own my own restaurant. i leased these other places, i take them, pick them up, but

they not my property, so if a landlord thinks you're making a lot of money, they up the rent. so i wanted to own my own restaurant. i found this building in an area that i was not allowed as a black young lady. it was segregated, so i could not go there, but now i have my own restaurant there. >> you couldn't even legally go there before, but now not only can you go there but you own a business there. >> i own a business there. >> you got an award for exprisoners working for you. >> well, my son informs the system, and when he came home, there wasn't a lot of opportunity. so i decided i would open this business, help my son, and other offenders coming home that can't find jobs. so they're just -- they made a

mistake, so i'm willing to give them an opportunity, so i decide i would hire exoffenders to help me out, helping eesm other. >> another thing about the show, it's not just you as an entrepreneur, but also as a mother. how important is family to you? >> they're very important, they're people you can depend on. you know your family, you know what makes them tick, you know when they're happy. i want to be able to give them a job, and i want them to take this bids over after i'm gone. >> is this a big part of what it's about? being able to pass the torch? >> that's a big part, my mom didn't have anything to leave me. so if i can do something for my family, my family was my support. if they taste the chicken, and they say it's good, it goes on the menu. >> how about your son?

>> we love each other, but -- >> let's talk to him and see what he has to say about you. stay right there. >> when she gets mad, she pulls a mom card on me. right or wrong, she whips out the mom card. ♪ ♪ never loved ♪ [ sighs ♪ ♪ have you ever, think ♪ ooohhhh, oh, oohh ♪ ♪ perfect work of art ♪ i knew right from the start ♪ i was sent here for you ♪ we were made to love [ male announcer the all-new 2014 chevrolet impala. made to love. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

you could have cleaned them, skinned them, done everything else. >> now tim doesn't want to help, that's fine, because two can play at that game. >> okay, michelle, don't make that cake over here.

if tim doesn't want to cook my ribs, then i'm not going to let michelle do the baking for them. since they want to go there. >> hold on. michelle want her money -- >> she's going to fix it over there. i don't have any problem -- >> i got a life. >> i wish you'd get a man. >> people see the fighting and the arguing on camera, but they also see the love. what is different about your relationship? >> well, we're in business together, which is a mistake. i'll let him talk. >> for one, she's my mom, and she's my business partner. so when she's made, she pulls the mom card on me. so right or wrong, she has a mom card for me. >> and that makes it tough, but it also makes you successful,

right? >> yeah. >> you have a level of trust that most people don't have. >> yeah we have old school meets new school. >> i leave the modern aspects to him, technology, marketing. >> that's good, i'm glad you mentioned it, something goes wrong, and shes c cusses you ou for it. >> yes, it just got in the right hands of people, and it eventually got in the hands of oprah, and that was just a blessing. >> hi! and then someone else screams. >> where is mrs. robbie. holy [ bleep it's oprah. >> when she showed up, i was so

excited. i could hardly believe my eyes. i knew she had life class in st. louis, but i didn't think she would have time to come visit little old me. >> the tv show has increased our business 100%. it's opened the doors for us. we have a lot more things on the table. >> is it ever difficult to do day today operations of the restaurant because of the tv show? >> yeah, normally we're out working in the restaurant, but now, we have people that come see us, you know. >> that's right, people want to come see us, take pictures, get a hug, and we appreciate that because some people say i just came to eat today and they're going right back. >> they came to eat from out of town and go right back, that's right there is a blessing. >> that must be an amazing feeling. >> it is, it's wonderful.

>> i watch the show, and i suspect, i suspect that it will be difficult for you to hand that restaurant over 100%. >> yeah, a little old lady was 90 something still in her business, and i thought that's me. if i don't have to work, that's different. they can take over the business, i just need to be there, sitting in the corner, little old lady. up next, we discuss unhealthy eating in the black community. >> so then there is a 200 to 300 calories that we consume that we didn't before. >> people are not familiar with sugary drinks. and this will be your premium right here. sorry to interrupt, i just want to say, i combined home and auto with state farm,

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welcome back, everybody knows that eating bad foods leads to health problems. yet people in our community still often eat the wrong things. joining us to help us understand why that happens is a health and wellness expert, and a doctor who is assistant commissioner of

health and hygiene. thank you for being here. first, why does this happen? if everybody knows that eating too much fried chicken, drinking too much of the wrong thing, if we know it's bad for us, why do we do it? >> one, we have to look at what people have access to in their community? we know that some of our communities, and our community in particular, we have a lack of access. so that's one reason. two, also in these communities, back of access to fruits and vegetables, and a overabundance of junk food. so it's hard to make the right choice. we also have to talk about the impact of marketing. we know our children are

especially targeted. and i think lastly, we have to talk about social norms and what we're used to. >> like our culture. >> absolutely. so, you know my family is from the caribbean, we have patties, and all of these drinks and sugary substances -- that's what you do when someone comes to your house. >> let's talk about in people's neighbors, they don't have access to some fruits and vegetables. you go where i used to live, and you see four or five miles of space between a person and a fresh vegetable, what do you do? >> you first acknowledge it's happening, and i consider when i think of the environment it does

include lack of access. so when you're in a community where it is really difficult to find that stuff, but it's real easy to find fast food joints, that's what you eat and that's what you know because it is -- it can also be cheaper because of the food policies within this country why junk food is cheaper than healthy produce and it is what people eat. i live in the south bronx, most of my produce, i get on the subway, and i go downtown, and i buy it, and bring it back up. people are feeling that are they going to go out of their way to experience that. >> i'm glad you mentioned that. andre, you work with people every day that come to you to be healthier, more well. how much of eating fast food is about what's in here.

>> it has to do with how good do you feel about yourself. and think about how good the food is and the quality of the food is. so it's better to pick up pork rinds than potato chips. >> we see it in the news, most of the people we talk to know about it, but i think there is a strong relationship between the two. >> what role does culture play in this? because i come from a house where you eat fried chicken, things dipped in butter, lard, and just a tradition of eating bad stuff, right? how can we hold on to it and our culture. >> there's a level of awareness you have to have right there. you say i want fried chicken, so instead of doing it the old

fashioned way, use coconut oil and it will be lighter, or maybely bake it. people think about once you go health, you go flavorless -- >> yeah, there's a million people watching the show that say i love being healthy, but not enough to lose my fried chicken. >> i think we have to figure out different ways to do it. >> and we can do things like adding salads. >> i hear that, but in our communities, and this is why the reason for the portion control -- there is 200 to 300 calories that we consume more than ten years ago, and half of them are is sugary drinks. >> if i'm not supposed to drink a 16 ounce sugary druink, what should i do. >> i don't think it's the drink,

i think it's the responsibility of the person drinking the drink. >> new york cracked down on how big of a drink, but what are they doing this time? >> we're limiting the size that food service establishments can offer to 16 ounces. and if it's a self serve place, they cannot give cups greater than 16 ounces. there's certain exceptions like fruit juices, and also things with dairy products. >> what do we do about the entrepreneur making their business off of food, how can we get them to not hurt the culture, but help it. >> it takes education from our communities, right, to know they have the power to create a certain level of demand. we have to have a certain level of courage -- >> and it is hard to do that.

but when you do, the results of it, the goal, we'll have black and brown people being healthier then they have been in a long time, and do things longer, and that has held us down. so online grocery stores, community markets, farmers markets, developing new entrepreneurs trying to build a health way, i think these are all opportunities that we have not given ourselves reason to believe that we can deserve and [ male announcer itchy scalp, meet selsun science. you're history. selsun blue itchy dry scalp. gets to the root of dandruff and hydrates the scalp. selsun blue itchy dry scalp.

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that wraps it up for this edition of "our world with black enterprise." you can like us on facebook or follow me on twitter. thank you for watching, see you next week. >> love, sugar, and butter -- >> you have secret recipes too, though? >> can you give me one? >> i'll give it to you later. >> i'm not going to get that later. >> oh yes you will. ♪

on wednesday, she was gone. i was there for my son's first breath. and his last. not everyone who gets meningitis...dies. the infection spread so fast. (overlapping voices) preteens and teens should get vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis, a rare but serious disease. health officials aren't the only voices recommending it. hear ours at voicesofmeningitis.org.

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