It’s time for video #4 in my 6-video series on the power of emotional markets, which is basically about how information is giving way to imagination and how people no longer buy based on information alone but based on the stories and the emotional needs each product or service fulfills.
We’re shooting these videos, on location at some of my favorite restaurants and small businesses in New Orleans (you can catch my first 3 videos on emotional markets here, here and here).
Today we’re at Dooky Chase, which has been around since 1941. I chose this space because today’s video is about a very important emotional market…
It’s the market of care, which is basically about providing and receiving care in your business.
I know a lot of people talk about creating an extraordinary customer experience but rarely is a business as infused with care as Dooky Chase is.
The Queen of Creole Cuisine
The owner of this amazing restaurant is 96-year-old Leah Chase and get this… she’s still cooking in the kitchen!
So, Leah married Dooky back in the 1940s and together they started a restaurant serving down home food in the historic neighborhood of Tremé.
Dooky Chase is still located at the same spot today, even though it’s now a fine dining establishment.
Over the years, Leah became known as The Queen of Creole Cuisine — a title she absolutely deserves!
She’s all about using amazing food to bring families together, to uplift and to support the community where she lives and it’s something she’s been doing since Day 1…
No matter the cost.
Hosting MLK and the Freedom Fighters
Back in the 1960s, Leah used to host people like Martin Luther King, the freedom fighters and all their political meetings at her restaurant.
Don’t forget this was in the ‘60s when it was illegal to gather and talk about civil rights — that’s how much Leah infused the emotional market of care in her business.
You could say she helped open the door for the civil rights movement.
The police could NOT shut her down even though they knew what she was doing because they feared backlash from the community since Dooky Chase was so popular.
Leah went out on a limb for people and they rewarded her with unstoppable love and loyalty.
The Power of Lagniappe
So, I just finished reading Leah’s book And Still I Cook where she shares her life story…
Leah grew up dirt poor during the Depression. She says her generation had a lack of money but not a lack of morals and she learned about the power of care and of giving from her parents — especially her dad.
In New Orleans we’ve got an expression, lagniappe, which means “a little something extra.”
And whenever someone comes and buys something, you give them a little something they weren’t expecting just to surprise and delight them.
Leah learned the principle of lagniappe from her dad who used to sell vegetables from his garden. Whenever people bought something, he’d throw in an extra vegetable here or there just to give them a gift.
Leah uses that principle to this day, to come up with extraordinary experiences for people who dine at her restaurant and she’s created an unbeatable reputation and customer loyalty and love that has lasted for decades.
Give… and You Get Back Double
From giving and receiving care through lagniappe and extraordinary food, to creating a place for the community to gather, to holding political events even when it was illegal…
Leah has been doing all of this for 70 years and it’s absolutely paid off…
Dooky Chase has hosted the likes of not just Martin Luther King but also President George Bush, President Barack Obama and Ray Charles!
This is a business that deeply inspires me and so does Leah.
She lives by the belief that whatever you give, you get back, DOUBLE 🙂
I believe in the same thing and with Live Your Message I always say that you can have everything you want in life if you’ll just help other people get what they want in life.
So often people talk about building a business based on what they can get and the lifestyle they can lead vs what they can give and how they can make their own dreams come true by making other people’s dreams come true.
So, let me ask you this…
How can you infuse your business with care to draw people in and give back to them, to love them up and change their life?
Go ahead and share in the comments… I read and reply to each one!
And stay tuned for the next video in this series — it’s the emotional market of self-identity… super juicy stuff PLUS I’m taking you somewhere really special in the video.
One last thing…
If you’re ever in New Orleans, don’t leave without stopping by at Dooky Chase 🙂
Now go out there and Live Your Message!
