Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariah Bland.
Hi Mariah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
My story is a little complex. There’s really so much to dig through, I don’t even know where to start. For starters, I was born into a family of 11 children all adopted. My dad served in the US Army and my mother worked from home. I wasn’t the greatest kid looking back. I would often given my parents a lot of grief. Small things. Though, I didn’t have the healthier upbringing, subjected to abuse and trauma. By the time I was 12, My mom had suddenly passed away and that just opened the door to horrific acts. Self-harm, suicide attempts, and substance use. I changed my entire appearance, all black. Being African American and dressed as a weirdo goth kid back then subjected me to a lot of bullying. A lot of hate from teacher and other students. I was so lost and I hated myself. My dad was never home and my older siblings moved out of the house. My dad hired a “nanny” to help with the remaining kids still living at home, but she was a crappy person. She was abusive and manipulative towards my dad. I remember one time, she told me, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked in the newspaper one day and saw that you had murdered someone.” By the time I was a teenager, I was full-blown into opiates, alcohol, you name it. Every night, I was under the influence and barely attended school. There were several times I had passed out and fell victim to the hand of older men. These were the people I was surrounded with. Hateful, judgmental, abusive people. By the time I was 19, I ended up in my first rehab center. I remember every night around 8 pm, the show Chopped would play on Food Network and it was the only thing I had that I could call my own. 8 pm was my time to watch people I aspired and looked up to, do their thing under scrutiny and immense pressure. Being creative and having an outlet always resonated with me, but who was I.. just some small-town screw-up. Once I discharged from rehab, I quietly practiced in my dad’s kitchen. Chopping, cutting, julienne. Over and over again. I watched Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsey, Aaron Sanchez, Alton Brown, etc. Every day. I practiced until I was comfortable with recreating recipes. Which in turn, I became comfortable enough to create my own. Through all this though, in between practices, life never stopped for me. My life continue to just spiral so I did the same. I relapsed and continued to destroy myself. It wasn’t until I was 22 that I had given birth to my first daughters. Athena and Reagan. I had actually caught a case back in 2017 and I was facing like over 30 years in prison, it was insane. Having my daughters saved me from spending my life in a jail cell. They gave me meaning. Someone to look out for, that wasn’t my own selfishness. I remember looking back at my parents who raised 11 children and I thought, I would never EVER raise a big family. Kids in my eyes..sucked. Though, life has other plans. Within 3 pregnancies, I ended up giving birth to 6 children. All twins. All mine to love. It’s so crazy to say out loud because I know how taboo it is to other people. “Normal” people. So with this responsibility given to me by the universe, I had to straighten up. I had to stop being so selfish. So I started focusing on my goals. I mean.. really digging deep and figuring out what I needed to do to better myself as a person. I enrolled in college in 2018. At this time, I was homeless in Baltimore with my family. Being in school was the one thing I had that I knew if I finished, I would be able to provide a better life for my kids. It wasn’t too soon after I was introduced into crisis work. I was living in a shelter, working 8 and 16-hour shifts every week. I absolutely loved it. Being dispatched to someone in need within your own community who needs help. It could be anyone. Someone overdosed, attempted suicide, completed suicide, struggling with mania due to bipolar disorder. I talked with a man who was actively suicidal and had a firearm in his hand, and the both of us had a 26-minute conversation while the team I worked for located him and helped him to safety. These were things I would have never thought I could achieve. So I wanted to provide those same avenues to my love for food. Provide a life skill or offer a passion to someone who is struggling. To help someone find their love for something on this earth like I did. Everyone deserves a passion, and I hope to reach people through food.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the largest struggles I faced was losing my father in 2017. He was and always will be my rock and my coach through life. He was always there for me, even when I was at my lowest point in life. He passed away from cirrhosis of the liver. He was silently fighting the disease for years and never told us. Though, his fight with alcoholism rang much louder than his health problems. It was something I guess we all knew would happen eventually, but you know… we look at our parents as invincible. I never wanted to lose him. He always called me his hero, but he was mine. To always fight an internal battle but put your loved ones first, no matter what.. he was such a strong man. He made mistakes, but he was such a strong person. I loved him so much.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work, Mariah’s Makery is a food blog I started in 2019. I connect with those around me online and in person, providing instruction on not only how to properly execute a recipe but, to transform it into a way that signifies the individual. To help someone learn a passion and a craft who needs something in their life, someone who has struggled so much and has been beaten down by trauma or the judiciary system. Someone who wants to start over and needs the tools to build. I am doing this through food.
the famous cookbook author and chef James Beard said, “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” In my eyes, We don’t just use food to satisfy our own needs but to show an emotional connection with others. Food is a unique art because it can play with all of your senses. Obviously, you taste the dish. You can feel the texture as you chew. You can hear the sizzling of oils on meat. You can see the careful plating done. Food is love. A recipe is a beautiful memory, put onto a plate. Food is positive and a connection. Food is emotion and obsession.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I’ve been a Missouri native since 2003, and St Louis is my favorite place. The people I must say, are my favorite thing about the city. The sense of community and the rawness you feel while commuting. There is so much culture. The Gateway city. It’s a melting pot. The diversity, it’s beautiful.
Contact Info:
- Email: mbland876@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/MariahsMakery/
Image Credits
Jessa Balough Photographer, LLC
Alyssa Jean Studios
