Entrepreneur runs booming pie business from Garfield Park incubator space

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Maya-Camille Broussard is busy this time of year with holiday pie orders - and her philanthropies. She runs "Justice of the Pies" out of a kitchen at The Hatchery, an incubator space in the Garfield Park neighborhood on Chicago's West Side.

"I created the company in memory of my late father, he was a criminal defense attorney," she explained. "And so the name is a play on justice of the peace... He loved pies."

Broussard baked around 300 pies for Thanksgiving - but she's also giving back to the community. She donated pies to the Cabrini Green Legal Aid's fundraiser and does workshops for students on the West Side.

"We teach kids who are in the 5th through 8th grade about nutritional development," Broussard said. "They don't have access to the knowledge and the experience in the kitchen. There are different ways in which we aim to give back. The underlying goal is just to positively impact the lives of others."

Broussard realized she could also have an impact if she shared what she calls her "invisible" disability.

"They say, 'What are you, deaf?'" she said. "Actually, you know, I am. I do rely on lip reading. So if you turn around, and you're talking, I can't hear a word you're saying."

She hopes talking about her own challenges will help others who are struggling on the inside.

"I just hope that people have a little more compassion for people who have not only physical disabilities, but all types of learning or mental disabilities," she said. "My goal is to get out of the kitchen more and enjoy life more. But still give the people their pies."