Dequan Walker Speaks On Exploring His Creativity, The Inspiration Behind ‘Quanny Eats’, Launching An Online Directory for Thriving Black People, Why We Must Continue to Highlight Black Excellence and More.

*Photo Cred: Esston Benjamin/@Esstheory*

It’s a steep road to travel when you know deep down in your heart you want to be successful, but you just haven’t found your passion yet. A lot of us, especially as people with so much creative talent, find ourselves in that position many times throughout our journey. Sometimes, all it takes is a quick spark of an idea to help jumpstart your next business venture. That business venture then becomes lucrative, and before you know it, you’ve developed a passion that you didn’t realize was a part of you all along. This is what Dequan Walker felt.

Traveling from his hometown in Jamaica to NYC at the age of 10, Dequan was unaware of his passion, but he aspired to be wealthy. Still, on that road to chase his true love, the young business-minded entrepreneur created multiple outlets that help feed his motivation to find real success. One of those outlets helps him share his experiences about different restaurants he visits, and the other is a categorized outlet that sheds light on Black creatives thriving in their respective fields. Laboriously worked, both platforms receive equal attention, all while Dequan works two jobs.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Dequan to talk about how he was able to explore his creative side just a few years ago. We also talked about the creation of Quanny Eats, launching The Salient Network, what this network represents for Black culture, why we should continue to champion the Black entrepreneurs and his plans of starting a Youtube channel for his ventures. Read the full interview below.

1 - What were some of your interests growing up?

I grew up in Nannyville in Kingston, Jamaica where everyone my age was interested in drinking, smoking, partying, staying outside, etc. I’m not sure what it was but I was just into watching TV and staying to myself. When I moved to NYC at the age of 10 I became very interested in seeing wealthy Black people and I aspired to be like them. It wasn’t necessarily because of the money/material things they had either, it was more so about the lack of stress that came with not having to worry about money. Financial literacy and leaving a foundation for my future children to build on is very important to me. Ultimately, I want to remove that stress from my life and the lives of my loved ones as well.

2 - In what ways did you explore your creative side as you got older?

I’ve always had the desire to be creative but I’m also a person who loves stability. Having both of them didn’t seem like a feasible goal for me earlier on in my life. I know a lot of us struggle with those two worlds so it’s hard to navigate through it. As I became older, I wanted to become a successful businessman but I just didn’t know in what field. To be honest, I still don’t know. I started exploring my creative side around 2017 and started messing around with Adobe programs and stayed consistent with Illustrator. Fast forward, I’m doing designs for Quanny Eats and The Salient Network. I use these two entities to help me create new designs, tap in with other creatives, and just learn. I put as much as myself as I can while having a 9-5 and a side job.

3 - I’ve been following you on Twitter for a while now and one of the first things I noticed about your creative side when I followed you were your Quanny Eats hats. Was that one of your first entrepreneurial endeavors that really caught people’s eye? If it wasn’t that, what was it?

The merch I created for Quanny Eats was never supposed to see the light of day. I had a bunch of ideas that I wanted to create for myself and didn’t have any intention of releasing it to the public because I thought, “Who would buy clothing from a guy who reviews food?” I changed the logo right before I started making my hats and hoodies. Beforehand, the logo didn’t represent what I wanted so I created something different. I remember the day I got my sample back for the hat and I posted it. I literally thought nothing of it but it went a little crazy. I was getting 20+ people asking where can they get it and that never happened to me, ever. That was about a year ago, fast forward to now, I just finished my quick-strike drop for the hats and hoodies again and I finished with 66 orders for hats and 104 orders for hoodies. I see that I have a future within the things I’m doing so I’m just going to run with it.

4 - What was the true inspiration behind creating Quanny Eats? Was it to show how much you love food and traveling? Secondly, What sparked the idea for the merchandise like hats and hoodies?

To be honest, Quanny Eats just became something on its own. I always loved going out to eat and I would post my plates here and there then one of my friends just said, “dude, just create a food Instagram.” I didn’t pay much attention to it until one day, I just created a random logo and decided to post food along with the location whenever I would go out to eat, which was usually 3-4 times a week. After a year of that, I created my website to give people more of a detailed review of the restaurant. When it comes to the inspiration behind the merch, I just wanted to make something that I would wear. Like I always said, the merch wasn’t anything that I wanted to release but I’m so glad I did.

5 - You’ve been to numerous restaurants throughout NY, particularly in the boroughs. What is the best place you’ve eaten at thus far? Why?

Honestly, the answer to that question could change depending on the day. For an overall experience that I like, it would have to be Sweet Chick (Bedford ave only). I like it a lot because the food is great, the music compliments the ambiance of the restaurant, the people are cool, and the service has never failed me. Take out wise, I’d say Mac Shack, Los Tacos, or Empanada Mama. Honestly, I’ll have 30 answers if I keep going.

6 - You recently launched The Salient Network, an online directory for Black creatives. Did today’s climate make you feel more responsible to bring this sort of platform to the forefront? If not, what was it?

In 2018, I created this Instagram page called the Negus League which was basically a less thought out version of The Salient Network. I’ve always wanted to build a network of black people in every field to make it easier for us to find us and support. The recent events in the world made it more apparent to me that we need to support each other. Nothing will get better if we don’t have the proper support and that is why I wanted to bring the idea back but with a better purpose.

7 - In your opinion, why should we as a community continue to highlight and celebrate Black entrepreneurs and creatives?

Two words, Horizontal Networking. Usually, we’re taught to always network up, get next to someone who is doing better than us, etc. Of course, it’s great to be around people who you can soak up knowledge from but all those ideologies eliminate building a connection with the people you have next to you. I believe in the “Lift as you climb” mentality so highlighting/celebrating Black people doing great things is something I’ve always wanted to do, I just didn’t know how until now. This is just the start though, there is so much more to be done.

8 - We’re approaching a month since you’ve launched The Salient Network. Do you have any specific goals you’re trying to accomplish for the platform for the summer and Q3?

I can’t believe it’s about to be a month. There are a lot of things I want to do before the summer is over and before we enter 2021 with the Salient Network. As far as numbers, I really want to have at least 300 people before we enter August 2020 and then 500 before 2021. As far as content, I want to continue creating blogs where I can include people who aren’t necessarily in the creative space but still have a lot to contribute. Hopefully, I can get to produce visual content and have events in the future.

9 - As a Black entrepreneur, what is a piece of advice you want to give out to the aspiring entrepreneur still trying to figure out what they truly want to do?

Honestly, I’ve never put the title of an entrepreneur on myself but from everything I’ve learned, I can definitely share some insight. My advice would be to (1) research and build a network in whatever field you’re about to get into. (2) Plan like your life depends on it. There are so many different things that can happen so having multiple plans can help you maneuver so much better than just winging it. (4) Look at what people in the field you want to go into are doing. Ask questions, take in everything, and then make your own approach, business styles, etc. (5) Lastly, and most importantly, always pay it forward. Anything you’ve learned, any opportunities you receive that you can bring others on board, whatever it is that will help people around you win, do it.

10 - NYC is starting to open up slowly but surely. What other projects can we expect from you as we approach these phases?

I can finally post content on my food blog again. It’s been about 3 months since I’ve been able to dine inside or outside of a restaurant so I’m very excited about that. I may be venturing in the realm of Youtube on both Quanny Eats and The Salient Network so I’ll keep you updated on that.

Follow Dequan on Twitter and Instagram to stay updated on his forthcoming projects. Also, be sure to Follow Quanny Eats and The Salient Network!

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