Solutions
Patti LaBelle Moves From Stage to Stove With a Recipe for Success
The Godmother of Soul has built a thriving business selling sweet potato pie, mac and cheese, and more.
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She’s best known as a singer with an explosive voice, who’s sold more than 50 million records and earned two Grammys, and an actress with dozens of TV appearances, including her own ’90s sitcom, Out All Night. But these days, Patti LaBelle—the Godmother of Soul (and Mariah Carey’s real-life godmother)—is just as focused on her food business.
In 2007, LaBelle founded Patti’s Good Life, offering meals and treats from mac and cheese to sweet potato pie. She says sales jumped about 12% last year, to more than $200 million. “I knew I would sing all my life,” LaBelle says. “But I never knew that I would have a food brand. It’s wonderful.”