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WHEN KIAH GIBIAN STRUGGLED TO SECURE A RELIABLE COOKING SPACE FOR HER BUSINESS, SHE TEAMED UP WITH CAT SMITH TO BUILD THEIR OWN...AND CHANGED EVEN MORE LIVES IN THE PROCESS.

- Becca Miller

A lot of energy and sweat went into Our Time Kitchen-a commissary facility providing prep space on a sliding pay scale for small business owners-even before Kiah Gibian and Cat Smith opened its doors. Today, 33 members use the communal ovens and counters to whip up products like packaged granola, baked goods, and hot meals, which they then sell from a to-go window or serve in the rentable restaurant space. But before Our Time Kitchen, nothing quite like it existed for food entrepreneurs in Baltimore.

The pair met after Kiah, a doula and owner of food truck Wilde Thyme, messaged Cat (chef and founder of culinary collective Just Call Me Chef) to see how they might collaborate in the food world. "I gravitated toward Cat's voice of wisdom and justice in the city," says Kiah.