Erica Barrett

At the age of 30 and after winning a video recipe contest with Foodnetwork.com, Barrett resigned from her position in Corporate America to pursue her dreams of building a profitable business. Stepping out on a leap of faith, Barrett created the innovative food company Southern Culture Artisan Foods. Southern Culture specializes in using organic and vegan-friendly ingredients to create tasty breakfast products such as, Sweet Potato, Banana Pudding, and Strawberry Shortcake pancakes. These popular products can be found in Whole Foods, Amazon and other major grocery retailers across the country.

The business has been featured on Shark Tank, where she went head-to-head with the Sharks and received two offers; one from Kevin O’Leary and one from Barbara Corcoran and ultimately landed a deal with Barbara Corcoran on the show. Her business has also been featured on CNBC’s The Profit.

The Mobile-native and chef opened SOCU Southern Kitchen and Oyster Bar. From Fried Lobster Deviled Eggs to Oprah’s Favorite Shrimp & Grits, the restaurant focuses on seafood and elevated southern food -- with a reinvention classic southern traditions. Last year, Barrett launched Dough Boy Pizza, which focuses on Neapolitan-style pizza (consisting of thin crust pizzas with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce) --- featuring both traditional toppings (such as pepperoni and sausage), and non-traditional toppings (short rib with caramelized onions and crawfish). A major standout is that the entire restaurant is technology driven.

Barrett has also competed on Food Network’s Raid the Fridge, where chefs must use their instincts and test their luck in choosing mystery refrigerators based only on the photos, magnets, recipes and art on their doors in this fast-paced competition series, hosted by food writer and restaurateur Dan Ahdoot.

Erica is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University with a BA in Business Finance. She is a graduate of the International Culinary Center® (formerly the French Culinary Institute) Culinary Entrepreneurship program.