Meet Carlos Abrahams | Chef/ Owner of Crav’n Caribbean

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

Hi Carlos, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born and raised in Kingston JA, from there we moved to NY and then DE. My upbringing and background groomed me yo be who I am today because my parents were always hard workers growing up and owned multiple businesses, my father owned a bar on Red hills Rd in JA and my mom owned a restaurant. The impact that’s had on my life shows in my work ethic, I’ve always had more than one job and never relied on others to reach my goals, when my wife and I decided to move to Charlotte I drove around to Barbershops, salons etc. to sell plates and get my name out there. I learned to cook from my mom and pick up the business aspects and people skills from my father; I didn’t realize I was passionate about cooking until I got out of the Marine Corps.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
One thing that’s sets me apart from others is that in my business we focus just as much effort into our customer service that we do info the food we prepare and how we present it.

I’m most proud about that fact that all the times I wanted to give up and didn’t now I’m starting to see why it was worth it to keep pushing!

I got where I am today by being persistent and consistent. I can tell you one thing I learned from being in sales it didn’t matter how many “NO’s” you got, you just had to figure out how to get a “Yes.” I used this strategy when I was going to different business for the first time to sell food, it was all how you presented yourself and your product.

It definitely has not been easy along the way but it has been worth it.

Many of the challenges along the way I overcame by having my wife’s full support, if I had a bad week financially she’d chip in, if I was mentally drained she’d pray for me and remind me that it would be ok.

Lessons I learned along the way are to always to be prepared for something to go wrong, it’s not a matter of “if “something bad will happen but “when.”

I just want the world to know I’m grateful for where we are now, I care about everyone who supports us and my goal is to make this a globally know company one day and honor my mom along the way!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My wife and I haven’t had much time to explore everything has to offer since we moved here right before the pandemic however a few things we’ve enjoyed recently are:

The white water center
Carowinds
Crowders mountain

We also love to walk uptown at night when the city lights up.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There’s so many people I can recognize along the way but most importantly God first! I’ve been blessed tremendously along the way and he’s opened doors I only dreamed about! I have to give a shout out to my wife for standing by me, when everyone thought I was crazy for leaving behind a good job and moving to Charlotte to cook and follow my passion, my wife supported me 100%, she saw my potential! I have to thank my mom Jean for passing her gift and love for cooking and people down to me. I have to Thank my second mom Rhonda (my mother-in-law) for believing in me and always praying for me. I also want to thank my mentor from the Marine Corps until now Lamont Land, there’s so much I learned from him. I want to also thank my friend and other mentor Tyran Cosby, I can literally call him anytime for advice and he always makes time for me with his busy schedule!

Website: cravncaribbean.com

Instagram: @cravncaribbean

Twitter: @cravncaribbean

Facebook: @cravncaribbean

Yelp: Crav’n Caribbean

Other: Tik tok: @cravncaribbean