Today we’d like to introduce you to Ralph Johnson.
Ralph, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Thank you for having me. I was first introduced to the kitchen by watching my mom cook for our family and sometimes cook for the church. Many times I hung around until she was done because she would let me lick the cake bowl, Lol. Every now and then she would sell plates after church. Everyone loved her food, especially her coleslaw! Which is now a featured item on the Plant Based Heat menu as, “Mamas Vegan Coleslaw.” Tabitha Brown even approved of Mama’s Coleslaw recipe in her video review of PBH.
I guess I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug at an early age from watching my mother sell plates at the church and seeing one of my favorite uncles transition from a construction job to opening his own soul food restaurant in North Memphis. At 10 years old I was cutting yards in the neighborhood, sweeping corner grocery parking lots and barbershops. Even then, It was something special about having that freedom of being an entrepreneur. Fast forward to my very first entrepreneurial endeavor as an adult at 24 years old. It was just a few years after completing my military duties in the US Army. I was a young radio and nightclub DJ with lots of momentum. I was planning the opening of my very first night spot for college students.
It was called the “Groove Train.” Let me pause to give a shout-out to my mentor who assisted in making that dream manifest, RIP Mr. Robert Williams. I was also able to partner with the hot wing legend, Mr. Donald Crump to open a Crumpy’s Kitchen.” inside of the popular night spot. See, I still had to have food cooking somewhere close by, Lol! So food and entertainment were my things! Let me also mention, while experiencing these amazing entrepreneurial opportunities, I enjoyed a career as a radio personality for almost 30 years.
As the journey continued with several restaurant and business endeavors throughout the late ’90s and early 2000s, I found myself relocating to Atlanta, Ga with my son in 2011. As a single dad with 100% faith in God, there was no hesitation in making that move. It turned out to be one of the best moves of my life, which led me to being introduced to the vegan lifestyle.
My first experience trying a meat substitute vegan option was around 2009/2010. I’ve always enjoyed a good vegetable plate anyways. So as a real live foodie, when vegan options began to surface, like vegan sausage, etc. there was no hesitation for me to see what it was all about and I was blown away! But it never clicked for me to become vegan, it was just another healthy thing on my plate with my Turkey leg or steak, Lol.
Fast forward to 2018, the documentary, “What the Health” had come out on Netflix, and Oh Man, what a shocker!!! I immediately went raw vegan for about a month and never felt better!! But there was no plan and no commitment, so I eventually began adding more vegan options to my plate with Hot Wings and fried Chicken, Lol.
In 2020, when the entire world stopped moving, I was determined not to get Covid, so I worked out in my studio apartment everyday, shout out to Effect Fitness in Atlanta for the virtual classes. I also began cooking healthy, no meat no dairy meals every day and I loved it!! I would research vegan recipes, add my twist to it and post them on my social media. The response was so overwhelming that it pushed me to share some of my vegan dishes with a few neighbors and friends. Consequently, they loved it and began sharing it with their friends and family.
So in the middle of the pandemic, my son and I organized our first Pop up in Atlanta. The people came out(with masks)and we could barely keep up with orders. It was the birth of Plant Based Heat, in real life! We decided to take the Plant Based Heat pop-up show on the road to our hometown of Memphis, Tn. The result was another overwhelming sellout!
So with already having restaurant experience, I began looking for a brick-and-mortar location in Atlanta, while still commuting to Memphis doing pop-ups. Then a voice spoke to me clearly, instructing me to offer these healthy food options to my hometown community first and we’ll grow from there.
Again, with no hesitation, after almost 11 years, I relocated back home to Memphis in 2021 and opened the first Plant Based Heat brick-and-mortar location near the University of Memphis in Orange Mound. It’s been a true blessing ever since, not only for me and my family but for countless others. Stay tuned for the Downtown Memphis location to open soon.
On March 26, 2023, I celebrated my personal 3-year vegan Anniversary and was able to experience one of the top highlights of my journey thus far. I was able to curate @MemphisVeganBrunch, a city-wide 100% vegan brunch, featuring some amazing chefs and great entertainment provided by the “Velvet Voice” himself, David Michael Wyatt. Our headlining special guest was Ms Tabitha Brown, one of the most popular Vegan influencers in the world! She is even more amazing in person. Such a genuine and kind lady.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course, we’ve experienced some challenges along the way, but those challenges have helped us to become better at our craft. As long as we remain focused and intentional and open to learning and growth, we will be fine. I too have had the “sleeping in my car“ experience, as a lot of successful entrepreneurs before me have shared. But that’ll come in my book. I can’t stress enough that how my faith and life experiences have helped me on this journey.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My sales, marketing and customer service experience has certainly helped me to train and instill in my staff the importance of great customer service! We offer a great product to an amazing customer base that is growing daily! We don’t take that for granted! Every time we open our doors, we feel that we are literally helping to save lives! With that mindset, the potential is endless! Books, television, entertainment, nonprofits, franchises, more restaurant concepts, PBH product on shelves in major grocery chains and more! Stay Tuned!
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My son. He’s amazing! He’s overcome many obstacles in his 25 years on this earth and he’s still winning! I’m very proud of you Ralph, III! He’s also my long distance business partner as he’s finishing up barber college in Florida. I often toss ideas his way about what should be next for PBH. Again I credit my mom for her tenacity and using her gifts and passion to get by that essentially bled over into my life times 10 and here we are. My siblings(Adrian and Lisa) are great supporters behind the scenes as well. Love them! But so much inspiration came from researching different recipes online, which would be too many to mention. I do want to shout out Pinky Cole and the Slutty Vegan vision! I’ve gotten major inspiration from that sister! I’m super grateful for all of the vegan influencers, home cooks, and chefs who have kept me inspired on this journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://plantbasedheat.com/
- Instagram: @PlantBasedHeat
- Facebook: Facebook.com/PlantBasedHeat
- Personal Instagram: iAmRjGroove
Image Credits
Tabitha Brown and Erykah Badu
