Ellen Tye-Kelly
Sweet Potato Tye is officially here... a dream business in honor of our mother and father. Honoring mom is more than wonderful... its more than one guiding force that motivated me to this point. My son was blessed with a following of autism. What an amazing challenge for a parent(s) to map their lives accordingly to accommodate their children. In order for me to succeed in life, my thoughts of financial stability had to encapsulate entrepreneurship. Knowing I was to provide for my family and help my son maneuver this life, it had to be through my own self driven choices. I have a duality as one child autism follows and my daughter blessed with the hand of chef technology. Here we are as a family honoring mama, grandmother and understanding that leaving a legacy for our family is paramount! Our ultimate goal is to share our Mom's love through her delectable sweet potato rolls, bread, and more.
God Bless!
the owners
Kellie Tye-Thomas
God, Love, family and food all come together as one!
These values have carried me through, from childhood into my adult life. As a child, I remember my father going on fishing trips to Canada with his buddies of all cultures and backgrounds. He would call my mother when he was about an hour of arriving home in the very early hours of the morning. Mama would prepare a fantastic breakfast and make sure that they were able to enjoy their morning coffee time together. They would both wake up the children so that we could all enjoy great conversation, food and hear about daddy’s adventurous fishing trip.
My parents believed in fresh homegrown vegetables, respectfully farmed meats that were raised and butchered by friends and home prepared meals that went from the stomach to the heart. Fresh baked goods were my mother’s love language, especially the homemade Sweet Potato rolls that she lovingly and carefully made. Making rolls was her quiet introverted place. I learned how to invade her space by sitting quietly and watching her craft the rolls. I knew this was a place to capture her attention and there was no one else around because my siblings knew it was her time or they didn’t want to inherit the dishes… LoL! I’d wash the dishes and gently migrate into a discussion and she would oblige. I found such joy in it because she would share her childhood stories with me. My original intention was to get some private time with mom but unbeknownst to me, I was learning how to make rolls, listen and learn something new about her.
This time was precious to me. She would carefully explain each step and why that step was so important. She would make me repeat the prior step and why it took place to make sure that I understood the process in detail (love was in the details). When the last batch of rolls were rising, she would say “now we wait and then bake.” I learned how to patiently listen, work through processes and pull all the details together. These important lessons stayed with me in my adult life and landed me a career in Program/Project Management. I liken my career to making rolls by understanding the importance of listening and how each process is important. My mother would often to say to me, “Kellie if you just listen to me and follow simple instructions at your age, you can do anything that you want to do in life. Today, I honor you mother through Sweet Potato Tye.
I am ecstatic to introduce the world to God, Love, Family and Sweet Potato Tye which holds our families secret recipe - LOVE.
the family
