Niehla Ollie Brings Her African Twist on Hummus to Farmers Markets – Along with Her Personality

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On Thursday mornings at the Evergreen Park farmers market at 89th Street and Kedzie Avenue, Niehla Ollie stands behind her booth, greeting customers. The bright green logo for Homegirl’s Hummus, adorned with an avatar of herself, tends to draw interest. Her hummus stands out in color and flavor, blending a traditional chickpea base with non-traditional ingredients like black-eyed peas, roasted garlic, pickled beets, giardiniera, black beans with cumin, and spinach with jalapeno. To accommodate allergies, none of it contains tahini, the Middle Eastern sesame paste that is a foundational ingredient in traditional hummus.  

“A lot of people who are not traditional hummus lovers really like mine specifically because it is tahini-free,” says Ollie. It took time to convince some of her regular customers to try her product. Now she sells out early almost every week.

“When I first started here, some of the older Black ladies were not trying to fool with hummus, honey. Now they come over on the phone telling their family members what I have today, what’s on the menu, which one do they want,” Ollie says. Besides offering friendly banter and a sample, Ollie informs customers about her product and why she made it in the first place. “My brand is about giving us a healthy alternative to snacking that still actually tastes good,” she says. “I make the product myself, so I know there are no preservatives going in. That matters. People are more intentional about what goes in their bodies, and I want to be able to speak to that.”

Ollie’s range of hummus is inspired by the African diaspora and incorporates African American traditions. She welcomes anyone who’s curious about her cultural twist on arguably the most popular Middle Eastern food in America to give hers a try. “I always enjoy the curiosity, none of it offends me. That is why I have samples,” she says.

One of her favorite moments happened at the Vegandale food and culture festival, when a young Palestinian woman approached her booth. “She had on the most beautiful makeup, so we bonded over that first. She said her grandma made the best hummus she had ever had. Then she tasted mine and she said, ’Damn! Sorry, grandma!’” Ollie recalls. 

Ollie had several different careers before becoming a food entrepreneur. She worked a corporate gig for a big media company, with clients like General Mills and Budweiser. She was a manager at a busy MAC Cosmetics counter in Los Angeles. She’s been a makeup artist for celebrities like Angela Bassett and Tamar Braxton and has done makeup and wardrobe for the Judge Mathis show. She was a fashion designer whose clothing touched the red carpets at BET Awards. 

Now, every week, rain or shine, you can find Ollie at farmers markets in Evergreen Park, Tinley Park, and Logan Square. She’s part of the new City Market IRL at Water Tower Place every Thursday. On Wednesdays she's Uptown and on Saturdays in Homewood; and between that she’s riding all over the city in a van decorated with her bold logo. 

“My logo is me,” Ollie says. “I remember one day somebody said to me, ‘We need to get your picture off that logo.’ Well, there used to be a time where people might not have wanted to advertise that a company was Black woman-owned, but that has shifted. The fact that I'm a Black woman on my product, people are intrigued by that, and it makes them want to come over and try my product. Because anything associated with Black women is usually excellence and goodness. They already know it's going to taste good.” 

Homegirl’s Hummus is a small operation with Ollie at the center. Her weeks go by fast. As soon as her farmers markets are done, she’s back to gathering ingredients, making the hummus, packaging the product, driving to her venues, doing her own set-up, greeting her customers, and keeping the proverbial plates spinning, no matter what. She does it all with minimal assistance, a smile, and gratitude for the challenges. “Any job you have wants all of you and will take it. If you can give everything to someone else's company, you should be able to give everything to your own. You are selling an extension of yourself,” says Ollie.

On her 51st birthday, Ollie was – where else – at the Tinley Park Farmers Market. She wore a tiara and a big smile as customers gathered at her booth to sample flavors like Celebration, a black-eyed pea hummus with chipotle and jalapeno peppers, and The Cleo, a sweet potato and chickpea hummus topped with braised collards. The Cleo is dedicated to her late father, who cooked sweet potatoes and greens every weekend for Sunday dinner. 

That day, Ollie sold out of everything within four hours. She attributes the demand to the customer base she’s built, face to face, week in and week out, throughout the city. “People love to say, ‘I met the owner’, or ‘Yeah, I know her.’ And it is a beautiful thing,” she says. “I love having a community-rooted brand. People are intentional about who they support, and I am very grateful to be on the receiving end of that. I love my customers. I show up in my full self — at 50 years old, 51 now — and I get to be the best that I can be. Every week.”