Chaz Hammonds Talks Balancing Law School and Entrepreneurship With “Spice”

Chaz Hammonds, a native of Houston, Texas, is the owner of SoulFitGrill, an all-natural, low sodium spice company that was created out of the love and concern he has for his grandmother, who has diabetes.

He received his Bachelors of Science and Economics from Texas A&M University, and studied energy economics at the Southwest University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, China. Chaz is currently pursuing an environmental law degree, and is also a co-founder of the nonprofit, TWEF. TWEF prides itself on reaching over 100,000 lives through free classes in financial literacy, health, and nutrition for the community.

When he is not in the classroom or making new spices, Chaz is working in the TWEF Organic Urban Garden, which sits on six acres and is used to teach kids the importance of nutrition and supplies families with produce, particularly those living in a food desert.

Here is more on how Chaz balances school with entrepreneurship, the inspiration behind his SoulFitGrill, and his biggest challenges.

On Juggling Law School and Entrepreneurship:

“Law school and entrepreneurship work well together, and comes with it own set of benefits. As my company continues to grow, I am fortunate to receive knowledge and skills from law school.  I have the ability to incorporate what I am learning in class with my business process, such as negotiating contracts. And, my business is covered in all legal aspects.”

On the Inspiration Behind SoulFitGrill Spice Company:

“SoulFitGrill Spice Company came to fruition after having a conversation with my grandmother about her diagnosis of diabetes. Her doctor had told her that she needed to make some major changes to her diet, in order to manage the disease and prevent future health problems. I knew this would be a major life change and hard for her to maintain. Like her and many of my other family members, salt and pork are main staples, when it comes to cooking; it is the go-to for seasoning food. This is when the idea came to me.”

On Overcoming His Biggest Challenges:

“One of my biggest challenges has been finding different ways to create new seasonings without adding vast amounts of salt and sugars. I believe that we have grown so accustom to having food with a copious amount of sodium, and we often think food is not seasoned well, if it does not contain salt. I have a hard time finding different herbs and spices to make new seasonings that are low sodium, but still, have the flavor to make a well-seasoned meal. While the work is challenging, it is also fun because I get to become a scientist in my kitchen, while coming up with new seasonings.”

You learn more about SoulFitGrill by visiting www.soulfitgrill.com and by following @soulfitgrill.