If you had to pick a word or phrase to guide you through 2023, what would it be?

“In my 1970s mentality, keep on keeping on. Don’t ever give up. No matter what happens, there’s always a new phase. There’s always something going to happen in your life. Just keep on keeping on.” – Gina White of Hanceville

White is known as the Tamale Queen and runs a food truck of the same name with her husband.

Gina White believes in helping others, including other food truck operators. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

“We have a great clientele that really look for us and support us. We have a lot of wonderful people we’ve met along the way. We believe strongly in helping people. It’s just in our hearts. We’re big, strong supporters of military, police and fire. We call them sirens. We’re also big in mentoring other food trucks because we’ve been doing this since 1999. We’re not in competition with each other, we’re all out here to help each other.”

These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama News Center partnership.