I am Ashley Robichaux from New Iberia, Louisiana. My husband Shane and I started Cajun Phatty's 2 years ago. We moved to Montana and thought, wow there are no Cajun or Southern restaurants here, it's time to change that. I have 25 years in the restaurant industry, mostly in fine dining, but us Cajun's love to cook and we love to entertain. Cajun Phatty's started as a catering and festival vending business, making sure that people would like what we have to offer. They did! So we bought a food trailer and went mobile. They loved that too! We work our trailer about 6 times a week. There are many days we simply run out of food (terrible problem to have). Every day multiple people ask when are you going to open a restaurant. With winter coming, the time is now.

Our team has many hours, money, tears and sweat, but mainly fun invested into this business. We have created such a following and can thank our customers (now our family) for that. We pride ourselves in cooking from scratch and purchasing all of our seafood from Louisiana and all of our beef and pork from Montana. Only the best ingredients will be found in our dishes.

We want YOU to partner with us in making the restaurant a reality. Your roll in building this is so very important to us. We have designed a reward program to suit all of our partners, but more importantly we are taking you along for the ride. Our future goals is to have Cajun Phatty's in every state, but we will start small first. The more partners that participate, the better the project is. It will take us from great to the best, and YOU played a huge part in that and will continue to be a part of us.

What We Need & What You Get

• We are hoping to raise $30,000 as a bare minimum to get into an already set up building. This will cover some of the start up costs and allow us to purchase signage, some equipment and cover us through the opening. If we exceed this amount the project will be far better as we will be in a better position to scout better locations.
• One of my favorite perks is our Le mur de partenaire (The Wall of Partners). We will tile the walls in our favorite Louisiana Festive Colors and each tile will have your name on it. I love this and it will travel with us wherever this journey takes us. There are many other perks for you to choose from.
• If we should not reach our goal, we will use the money to upgrade and winterize the trailer, but the perks will still remain the same. I am confident that we will surpass our goals and everyone will join us on this wonderful and exciting journey.

The Impact

We are not just opening a restaurant, we are opening our hearts to the community. We are involved in many charitable organizations and will continue to do this. My team and I will teach basic culinary skills to under privilege people that are looking for experience and knowledge to be able to get better jobs.  We will also host cooking classes for the community to enjoy.

I believe this is valuable to our partners for several reasons, opening up jobs to the community, wonderful food, fulfilling life dreams for many people (not just myself), we bring our money to Montana and our favorite Louisiana seafood fisherman (I will never skimp on this) and we are bringing our culture that Louisiana is known wherever we go. This is just one phase of many and you will be a part of it.

Risks & Challenges

As with any new business there are always risks. I love the way we planned our business and the steps we have taken to get this far. Yes, we have invested quite a bit of money, but the exposure and the friendships that we have built will carry us further than we could imagine.

I have been a part of many restaurant and hotel openings and I can almost guarantee that there will be delays of some sort, but none that I can see that will hinder us from following through with our reward program.

Other Ways You Can Help

Some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean YOU can't help:

• Ask folks to get the word out and make some noise about your campaign.
• Remind them to use the Indiegogo share tools!