COLUMBUS, Ohio — After facing difficult times during the pandemic due to losing her job, a central Ohio woman worked hard to find a way to bounce back and live her passion.

“At that time, it was more of a scary period because even though I stopped going to work, my bills did not stop coming in,” said Regina Turner, founder of Reggie's Creations. 

From washing dishes to cooking and delivering food, Columbus native Regina Turner has done it all during her past 34 years in the food service industry. 

But in January 2020, while working in Pataskala as a food and beverage manager, she was let go, a casualty of the pandemic.

By March 2020, she was working as a driver for the online ordering and delivery service Market Wagon. 

(Dennis Biviano/Spectrum News 1)

“A platform like a Farmer's Market on wheels,” said Turner. “It's farmers, artisan, bakers, people that also do non-food products like shampoo, health care.”

Turner was once again part of a team, and working at a Columbus ghost kitchen. 

In the months that followed, she had the opportunity to cook and Reggie's Creations was born.

Using Market Wagon's pipeline, she now serves the 14 county region of central Ohio. 

“I introduced what I call a galette, which is my homemade pie dough, but I infuse that with savory items like mushrooms and sautéed spinach, barbecue chicken.”

(Dennis Biviano/Spectrum News 1)

Turner, a wife and mother of two, said she's living her passion now with Reggie's Creations. 

Her advice to those who lost their food service job, or had to pivot during the pandemic, is to be open to change. 

“I'm given the rare opportunity to do what I want, to make what I want and feed a lot of people that just want good food,” said Turner. “Make sure you have that support unit that is the biggest thing. And take a chance. I was scared to death to take that leap, to start my own business, but once I've done it, I've not looked back.” 

Turner said Reggie's Creations has grown from serving 12 orders per week during 2020 to more than 400 per week.