Meet Tammy Carter | Entrepreneur & Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tammy Carter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tammy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process was to share more of my culture and to create a one of kind product using the same ingredients that my ancestors used.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
From a very young age, I began baking, it wasn’t until a few years ago, I decided to incorporate more of the traditional foods I was raised on. As a result, I created several new flavors and desserts using indigenous ingredients and native designs inspired by my grandma’s rugs and baskets. I’ve had orders from Manhattan all the way to Hawaii and everywhere in between. Currently I am pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Business, I plan on expanding business wise as soon as I graduate as well as get my product into stores. As a single parent, it was not easy, but upon graduation, I will be the first in my family to graduate college and to build something to pass onto my children. First and foremost, I have my faith to thank for giving me the strength I needed to raise my kids, attend school full time and fulfill my orders as a sole proprietor. I also have to give credit to my Navajo culture, in my culture, each ingredient I use has a story and is held in such high regard. A taste of my product is a taste of my culture.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
One of my favorite places on earth has to be my grandparent’s, they live in one of the most rural and pristine places I’ve ever lived. There are canyons of varying depths that go on for days. To the north of my grandparent’s, there is a mountain surrounded by more canyons and a lake with a couple thousand miles of shoreline. Within the depths of one of the many canyons is my grandma’s sheep camp, where the hogan from her childhood still stands among an orchard where apples, grapes and peaches still grow next to a spring. So an itinerary would consist of hiking to the sheep camp, with jugs of water for making Navajo tea and coffee along with all the fixings for a mutton sandwich, such as lamb meat, chilis, onions and flour and lard for frybread. The views are spectacular and the sheep camp itself is as if time has stood still for almost a century. It is an experience.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My main source of inspiration has to be my grandparents. From a very young age I was raised by them on the Navajo reservation. Neither of my grandparents received a formal education, so to make money, my grandma weaved baskets and rugs. My grandpa worked in construction, both taught themselves in their trade. I credit my grandma for teaching me about our traditional foods as well as her ingenuity and creativity. I credit my grandpa for teaching me to persevere and to never quit.

Instagram: Carti_li

Facebook: Carter Leigh

Other: Carter’s Sweets

Image Credits
Tammy Lee Carter