Small business success is Karen Carrier's "Another Roadside Attraction"

Karen Carrier headed to New York on a painting scholarship in the early 80’s but turned to cooking instead. She says, “I needed some money to be able to ‘maintain’ in Manhattan and I ended up going to the New York cooking school.” Carrier ended up working for a catering company, and that is where her culinary career really began.

Ultimately she returned to her hometown, Memphis, Tennessee where she started “Another Roadside Attraction,” the parent company to several restaurants. But becoming a restaurateur didn’t mean giving up all the artistic talents that led her to New York and then to cooking. She uses her artist’s eye to design each of her eateries. “My restaurants are just another painting,” she says, “They are a work of art. And I think when people walk in they get that feeling that, this is quirky.”

Take, for example, "The Beauty Shop." It used to be (you guessed it) a Beauty Shop. In fact, Carrier says Pricilla Presley used to get her hair done in the first booth. You can’t get your ‘do’ did there anymore… but when they converted the space from salon to dining room they left the fixtures, so now you can sit under the same dryer ‘Cilla did and enjoy new American cuisine.

Carrier runs two other restaurants in Memphis, and in each you’ll find a unique theme that reflects her artistic side.

Her tips for small business success:
1. Use all your skills
2. Work with what you have
3. Personalize it

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Filed under: Small Business Success