Gocha Hawkins is the owner and CEO of Gocha’s Restaurant Group, where she has developed an innovative interpretation of Southern Cuisine. Gocha has found a niche that pays homage to tradition and creativity with the goal of redefining breakfast. Gocha offers a menu featuring traditional flavors with contemporary favorites and gives each dish a story.
As the face of Gocha’s Breakfast Bar, Gocha manages all aspects of the restaurant, from menu planning to guest engagement. Her passion for cooking and pursuit of excellence radiates during our conversation as she reveals what it takes to run her business in reality. Gocha’s culinary journey encompasses perseverance and ambition as she transitioned from her career as a successful entrepreneur in entertainment as an award-winning celebrity hairstylist to pursuing her passion for cooking.
Gocha’s past work in the entertainment industry provides her with a meaningful sense of hospitality and nuanced opinions of the intersections of food, culture, and community. She expresses her belief that food can build community and her desire to cultivate space where guests can come to feel at home.
In her culinary work, Gocha is generating not only success in the restaurant but she is also an inspiration for entrepreneurs. Her commitment to delicious cuisine and unique interpretations of breakfast are a powerful asset to the food industry. Gocha Hawkins is not only a chef, but also a culinary pioneer, expressing style in food and fully impacting the dining experience one plate at a time.
Gocha spoke with Her Agenda on entrepreneurship, community engagement, and the importance of representation in food.
Her Agenda: I feel like throughout your career, you’ve just been breaking barriers. You’ve had such a diverse career going from a celebrity hairstylist to an entrepreneur. What was that moment that you felt like you decided to break out and pursue all of these different ventures?
Gocha Hawkins: Well, I did hair for 30 years, and by doing hair, I learned a lot in the industry of cosmetology.
I never wanted to be that hairstylist—not to knock anybody else, but I never wanted to be 60 or 70 years old and still doing hair. I’ve always cooked for my family and my friends. They would come over, and we would eat, drink, and have a good time.
My friends [always told me that I] should open up a restaurant. I wanted to open a restaurant back in 2008, but then the market crashed. I moved to Atlanta in 2010.
I continued to do hair. In 2014, I moved to the southwest side of town. I was living in the Atlantic Station [area] when I first got here to Atlanta.
If you know anything about Atlanta and living in Atlanta, you have lots of opportunities, you have great food, and great shopping. But when I moved to the southwest side of town, there was nothing over there. So it was like I was having buyer’s remorse ‘like, what have I done?’ [when I first purchased my apartment]. [There’s also] a high influx of celebrities who lived [in that area]. And I just felt like it was such a disadvantage that they only had chain restaurants. I just thought it would be the perfect opportunity to open up a breakfast restaurant.
I did find a space in 2018, and in December 2018, I opened up a breakfast restaurant, and the rest was history. And now, four restaurants later, we’re still thriving. The community has embraced us with open arms. We have guests who come in and frequent us every single day. That speaks volumes to us, and it allows us to make sure that we’re delivering a five-star service every single day.
Her Agenda: How do you feel that you balance being a creative with the demand of running a full-fledged business?
Gocha Hawkins: It takes passion, it takes dedication, and it also takes perseverance because it’s not easy. I know it looks easy, but it’s not easy at all. You have to have the right team in place.
We filter people in and filter them right out. If they don’t fit, they don’t gel, we get them out because one bad apple can spread like cancer.
It’s really just about having a great team that you can rely on. Because I have so many businesses at this time, I have to make sure that these people are capable of helping me facilitate my vision. That’s just the key: having a great team.
Her Agenda: Besides making sure that the team is right and good to go, what do you think is one major lesson that you’ve learned that you’ve applied to your own life and your own business?
Gocha Hawkins: Having service. Service is extremely important. There are a million restaurants. When people choose to spend their hard-earned working money with you, they choose you.
So by them choosing you, you are to deliver a five-star service. Service starts at the door, which starts at the host stand by greeting them and making them feel welcome. Make sure that when they walk in the door your team is pleasant, they’re inviting, they’re welcoming. Also making sure that they’re coming into a clean environment. Once they come into a clean environment, you want to make sure that the food is coming out, the drinks are coming out, and that it’s consistent, it’s quality, it’s up to par. [Even] the plate presentation, all of these things play a part in that five-star experience.
That five-star experience is going to grow your business. Those are the key elements for us, making sure that we’re delivering every single time. I always try to put myself in the guest’s space. You have to put yourself in that experience. And once you do that, you should be able to deliver.
Her Agenda: As someone who is so successful, what do you think are the most crucial elements right now for women who want to succeed in today’s entrepreneurial landscape?
Gocha Hawkins: Get an understanding. And once you get that understanding, you need to be passionate about it. I don’t feel like people should jump into doing a business just because they feel like it could be lucrative.
You need to understand all the dynamics that play a part in whatever it is that you’re trying to do. You just need to be passionate about it and understand that it’s not going to be easy, but it will be worth it. So you just have to understand that.
You might need funding or something like that [when you’re first starting out], and they might tell you no, but you can’t give up. That’s the way I got funding for my projects, it wasn’t easy. I got several no’s, but I made it happen.
So just know that people are going to say no. Don’t give up. Be persistent, keep going, and be passionate.
Her Agenda: I was looking at your social media and you are always on the go. How do you prioritize your self-care and wellness while being on the go?
Gocha Hawkins: I love a massage. My wife tells me all the time that she would never sit in a massage parlor for 90 minutes, but I can’t go for less than 90 minutes.
Self-care is very important. I do Pilates. I love it. I meditate. I do steam rooms, saunas.
I love all that. Those are necessities for me.
Her Agenda: With the multiple roles that you do hold besides self-care, how do you manage that pressure and keep yourself grounded in those moments as well?
Gocha Hawkins: Well, I go to counseling. That’s number one. And being in counseling has helped me with just the anxiety of doing too much.
Being able to do different breathing techniques and being able to love myself, to make sure that I’m not overwhelmed [helps]. Stress can cause all these different health effects. Being overwhelmed can really kill you. So once I understood that it was a game-changer for me.
Her Agenda: I mean, peeking on your Instagram as well, you built a successful personal brand. Your audience feels like they know you, they want to go on this journey with you. What would you say are the key elements of building an authentic and successful personal brand in today’s age?
Gocha Hawkins: I tell people to be yourself. It’s easier to sell yourself than trying to be something that you’re not. So for me, I’m just myself, I’m very open, honest, and upfront, and I say whatever I feel, whatever it is.
I try to make sure it comes out the right way, but I say exactly how I feel. And sometimes it doesn’t always come out the right way, even though I mean well, but that’s it. Just be yourself.
Her Agenda: When you’re trying to get in the zone, do you have a go to power outfit or go to song or anything that helps you say ‘okay, I’m ready. I can conquer the day I can do anything?’
Gocha Hawkins: Well, my one song is Marvin Sapp’s ‘Never Would Have Made It.’ That is my favorite song.
Her Agenda: That’s a good one!
Gocha Hawkins: And I wear red when I want to feel powerful.
Her Agenda: That’s a good one!
Her Agenda: You’ve done hair, you’ve done TV, there’s so many different lanes that you’ve worked in. Do you have an idea of where you’re approaching for the future or things that you maybe want to explore that you haven’t explored yet?
Gocha Hawkins: Well, what I would like to do at some point is to be a consultant, just to continue to coach and lead people in this industry. Just start-up businesses, how to start, and just once you get in the business, things to look for, what to do, what to expect.
Some of these things are not even things that you can imagine expecting [or preparing for], but I would still like to be able to consult people on some of the unexpected things, too. I enjoy teaching and having these types of conversations, just making sure that we have equality. Those things are extremely important to me.
So if people want to listen and learn, I’m here to share.
[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]
