Loren's Badass Chick: Carla Gomes

Click to listen

This week's Badass Chick is Carla Gomes, a restauranteur who's raised almost $280,000 for the Joslin Diabetes Center in honor of her son.

Almost 30 years ago, Carla was a dental hygienist and mother-of-two who, on a whim, came up with the idea of owning a restaurant. Carla spoke to her brother, a restaurant owner/manager, and asked him if one of his chef friends would want to partner with her on a restaurant. It was sort of a pipe dream, and a "this is probably never going to happen" type of suggestion. Sure enough, his friend did want to partner with her. And just four days after throwing the idea out there, the paperwork was signed and Carla was the proud owner of Terramia Restaurant in the North End. (Yup. FOUR DAYS.) She and her husband worked seven days a week for six months to get the restaurant off the ground, and it was so successful that she now owns two other properties in the North End as well!

On top of all that, Carla's been raising money for the Joslin Diabetes Center's High Hopes Fund in honor of her son who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was just one year old. In the past 11 years alone, she has raised almost $280,000. You can help Carla raise even more by participating in her fundraiser next Sunday: a bunch of restaurants in the North End are participating in CityFeast, a five-course dinner which benefits the fund. Click here to get your tickets!

I love that Carla turned a pipe dream into a full-blown, highly successful reality and uses her passion to give back to an organization that has so impacted her family's life. For that, she is my Badass Chick of the Week!