Candice Mensah is the Chef and Owner of Hedzole a concept she created that pays homage to her Ghanaian American heritage. Candice was born in Washington, DC and grew up outside of the city in Alexandria, Virginia. Both of Candice’s parents emigrated from Accra, Ghana and growing up her mother was the main “chef” of the household which meant mealtime was traditionally Ghanaian and sometimes it was not. Learning to cook from her mother sparked Candice’s curiosity and love for food, particularly food from the African diaspora. In 2019 she launched Hedzole as a pop-up concept that mostly operated on the weekend at local farmers markets. In 2022, she left her job in Health Information Technology sector, to focus on Hedzole full time with a 4.5-month pop-up inside the Tysons Galleria mall and local farmers markets. In April 2023, Hedzole opened its doors in Washington, DC. The word Hedzole, comes from her ethnic heritage of the Ga people of Accra, Ghana. Hedzole, means freedom.