Lakita Spann, president of Mr. Potato Spread, is the JAX Chamber 2024 overall Small Business Leader of the Year.
The award was presented Feb. 14 at the University of North Florida Adam W. Herbert University Center.
Spann and her husband, Aaron, started serving specialty baked potatoes from their food truck 10 years ago. They now have restaurants in the Orange Park Mall food court and in River City Marketplace at 840 Nautica Drive, No. 117, as well as the truck.
Its first franchise at 7159 Philips Highway closed in January.
Spann was among 11 Small Business Leaders of the Year comprising eight women and three men.
“The drive and dedication Lakita has shown in building and growing her business is an example of the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit that makes our small business community so successful,” said JAX Chamber President and CEO Daniel Davis.
In her acceptance speech, Spann spoke of her faith, family and friends and how their support has seen her through hard times when she wanted to give up.
“My life hasn’t been the easiest. We grew up in not the best of situations. My mother was a drug addict,” she said after the awards ceremony.
She was raised by her two grandmothers and looked to teachers and people in the church as role models.
She started working at 15 and by the time she was 19 she took in her 10-year-old sister, Stephanie.
Spann said her sister would soon receive her doctorate in education.
“Our roles have reversed. I was an inspiration to her and now she is an inspiration to me,” Spann said.
Closing the franchise was a learning experience, she said.
“We have a better understanding of what we are looking for in terms of who our ideal franchisee is.”
Spann said she hoped the franchise program will begin in three months. Instead of opening more Jacksonville locations, she wants to branch out to other Florida cities and into Georgia.
Spann praised the other nominees.
“There are so many amazing nominees who are really doing amazing things in business. Any one of us could have been chosen and it would have been a good choice.”
As this year’s Small Business Leader, she will serve as an honorary member of the JAX Chamber board. She will also speak at all of the Chamber councils.
“I’ll represent the chamber as Small Business Leader of the Year in any capacity that they need me,” Spann said.
The JAX Chamber’s 2024 Small Business Leaders of the Year: