Jennifer Ousley has an apt answer ready when people ask her what kind of food her catering service, The J.Renae Experience, specializes in preparing.
“I tell them, ‘Whatever they want’,” she said. “From soul food to fine dining.”
Among the most demanded dishes, Ousley says, are the lump crab-stuffed salmon and the cast iron skillet lamb chops. The fan favorite, however, appears to be the handmade eggrolls.
[adrotate banner=”51″]
“Eggrolls, eggrolls, eggrolls,” said Ousley, before listing the varieties of the popular appetizer. “Philly cheesesteak, seafood explosion, chicken and shrimp; I even make my own sauce. They love the eggrolls, and I love giving it to them.”
The Martinez-based full-catering service started two years ago and has done well for itself since then, serving at corporate events, preparing lunches for both Augusta University and University Hospital, and offering weekly, deliverable meal preps on Sundays (this week’s is smothered pork chops, baked macaroni and cheese, rice and gravy and cabbage).
“I truly am living my journey,” said Ousley. “I worked corporate America for 12 years. I am a high school dropout with a master’s degree.”
The road to the J.Renae Experience was a long one, with Ousley dropping out the second semester of her senior year.
“I was 17 years old and thought I knew everything,” she said. “But I was wrong.”
Ousley did manage to get her GED in 2003, the same year she would have graduated. She then applied and was accepted into what was then Augusta State University, where her adviser told her she would not likely graduate in less than five years because of all the remedial courses she required. However, after starting in January 2005, she graduated in May 2009 with a degree in sociology.
Ousley would go on to earn her master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix and work as a team of experts manager with T-Mobile. The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdowns pushed Ousley to find solace in her favorite pastime – cooking and posting her cuisine on social media.
The encouragement of impressed friends and followers was all she needed to experiment with culinary entrepreneurship. Her first booking as a caterer was for a friend’s birthday party on April 20, 2020. At the time, Ousley was living in Charleston, S.C., but most of her contacts where back home in Augusta.
[adrotate banner=”71″]
“I was driving two and a half hours to Augusta because people here knew me, and they booked me,” she said. “While still working full-time.”
Ousley ultimately left her career on Dec. 4, 2021 and moved back to Augusta to run the J.Renae experience full-time, a date she calls one of her “scariest days.”
Ousley is in the process of preparing the grand opening for her brick and mortar location in Martinez, where she will offer dine-in and carryout alongside the catering services, which she says will be “coming soon.”
Ousley says she’s thankful for her business, and the opportunities that led to it, attributing plenty to her “praying mother and grandmother.”
“It has been one of the biggest challenges being a Black woman opening up a business here in Columbia County,” she said. “But I would not take back my experience.”
Her gratitude and her confidence show in the business’ moniker, and the story behind it. Loved ones call her “J,” and Renae is her fiancé’s middle name. She was originally going to use “J.Renae’s Catering,” until she had an epiphany.
“I provide an entire experience,” said Ousley. “Because each and every time you book me, you have an experience you’ll never forget.”
The J.Renae Experience is located at 4015 Washington Road, Suite A in Martinez, and is expecting to have its grand opening soon. For updates, and information on its catering services, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheJ.RenaeExperience.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
