“Adulting” is fun, but sometimes the weight of adjusting to life on your own conflicts with school, diet, and professional responsibilities. After a long day of class and exams, the last thing most students want to do is go home and cook themselves a full-fledged meal.

Luckily, that’s where Ty comes in.

Ty, full-name Tyquise Edgerson, is a senior telecommunications major and part-time gourmet chef. He’s also the founder and owner of “Ty’s Kitchen,” an Instagram-based business Edgerson started in 2018.

The aim of Ty’s Kitchen is to bring “your mom’s kitchen” to students at Penn State. Edgerson chefs up platters of soul food with fried fish, jerk chicken, mac & cheese, green beans, yams, and rice & gravy as just a few of the menu options he offers, bringing a little spice to the State College community.

Edgerson first got the idea for the business from memories of his childhood in Philadelphia. Growing up, people in his neighborhood would often sell personalized food platters out of their homes. They were always good, home-cooked meals you could count on.

When he came to Penn State as a freshman, he noticed a fellow student had started a similar business she called “Keeta’s Kitchen.” Eventually, Keeta graduated and there was a hole in the soul food market that Edgerson realized he could fill.

“If you know me, I’m always cooking on my [Instagram] story,” Edgerson said. “One day, I was cooking, and people were asking for a plate. I said, ‘If you really want a plate, send me $8.’ Surprisingly, people responded.”

The rest, as they, is history. Soon after, Edgerson ran two test sales to get feedback from the community about whether people would be interested in his offerings. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and so Ty’s Kitchen officially opened for business during Homecoming weekend of 2018.

Edgerson sells platters of his food on a semi-regular basis. As a full-time student running an Instagram-based business, he doesn’t have a set schedule that he adheres to when making his dishes. He cooks and sells his platters when time allows.

“I currently don’t have much help. My friends come and help me here and there and keep me calm,” Edgerson said.

When one of his pop-up sales goes live, Edgerson drops a Google Form on various social media platforms — such as Instagram, Twitter, or GroupMe — to let his fans know he’s taking orders. The form has all of the menu items he’s prepared to offer listed and customers can choose to customize their order by adding extra sides or notes onto the order.

One of the best things about Ty’s Kitchen is the reasonable pricing. Not only are the quality and quantity of his servings spectacular, but most dishes range between $8-12.

Currently, Edgerson’s plans for the future of Ty’s Kitchen are a bit unclear. While he loves cooking, he also loves the field of telecommunications and wants to find a career in production after graduating. He still hopes to come back to town on big football weekends to sell his platters.

“A lot of people have been asking for me to stay in State College and open a restaurant since there are no soul food restaurants [here],” he said. “I don’t know the future, but I can see myself having a Ty’s Kitchen in State College permanently down the line.”

Owning and running Ty’s Kitchen was something Edgerson had never envisioned for himself. It was something that sort of just happened, but he couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Now, he has advice for anyone thinking about doing the same thing.

“If you are thinking about starting a business, but are scared that it’s not going to do well, just do it,” Edgerson said. “Ty’s Kitchen was something that could have been started years ago, but I had too much fear that it wasn’t going to do well. Sometimes, you just have to take risks. It might be worth it.”