Category: Podcast

Stephanie Gillenkirk of Pittroe Business Services, Episode 108

Welcome to the latest episode of Small Business Marketing – Then & Now! In this episode, we sit down with Stephanie Gillenkirk, an experienced accounting professional and the founder of Pittroe Business Services in Pittsburgh.

Stephanie brings a unique blend of skills and experience to the table, with a background in the casino industry and a passion for helping small businesses thrive. After earning her Associate’s in Accounting, she spent over a decade in the casino industry, gaining valuable insights into management, financial accounting, and leadership.

But Stephanie’s entrepreneurial spirit didn’t stop there. Alongside her full-time job, she juggled various side hustles, including Uber, Door Dash, Amazon Deliveries, and even MLM companies. This diverse experience gave her a deep understanding of the challenges faced by small business owners, particularly women-owned and startup companies.

Driven by her passion for helping others succeed, Stephanie founded Pittroe Business Services, offering personalized bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, and advisory services. Her goal? To provide tailored solutions that empower women business owners to achieve financial clarity and focus on growth.

Join us as Stephanie shares her journey, from her early days in the casino industry to launching and marketing her own business. Get ready for insights, inspiration, and practical advice for small business owners looking to take their marketing to the next level. Tune in now!

Nicole Riggs Broesch of fern+daisy, Episode 107

n our latest episode of Small Business Marketing – Then and Now, we sit down with Nicole Riggs Broesch, a Knoxville-based creative who’s making waves in the world of design and marketing. Nicole brings a unique blend of creativity, passion for the outdoors, and a dedication to craftsmanship to everything she does.

👩‍🎨 Graduating from Bob Jones University with a BS in Apparel, Textiles, and Design, along with a minor in Communications, Nicole has honed her skills over seven years in product development, specializing in apparel and accessories design. Her commitment to quality and attention to detail shine through in every project.

🌟 Nicole’s expertise extends beyond design; she’s equally adept at fabric and handloom design, graphic design, and digital content creation. Her diverse skill set allows her to seamlessly execute projects from conception to completion, ensuring top-notch results every time.

🚀 Join us as Nicole shares insights into how she launched and marketed her business, offering valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals alike. Tune in to learn from Nicole’s journey and discover how to elevate your creative endeavors to new heights!

Don’t miss out on this inspiring conversation with Nicole Riggs Broesch!

 

To learn more, click:

https://www.fernanddaisy.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lanicoleriggs/

Denise Van Noy of Lucidity Bookkeeping, Episode 106

In this insightful episode of “Small Business Marketing – Then & Now,” we delve into the transformative world of modern bookkeeping with Denise Van Noy, the driving force behind Lucidity Bookkeeping. With a keen focus on small businesses, Lucidity Bookkeeping stands out by bringing the accounting department directly to entrepreneurs.

 

With over 20 years of genuine business experience under their belt, the team at Lucidity Bookkeeping isn’t just about crunching numbers. They merge bookkeeping expertise with entrepreneurial insights, understanding the multifaceted challenges faced by business owners.

 

Denise highlights her journey into bookkeeping and her companies journey in marketing to small business owners.  Lucidity Bookkeeping’s systematic approach ensures that each client’s unique business model, operations, and goals are thoroughly understood. This personalized touch allows them to offer tailored solutions, from improving workflows to enhancing overall efficiency.

 

Lucidity Bookkeeping serves both local clients in the West Palm Beach, Florida area and remote clients across the United States. Their commitment to fostering strong communication and building close relationships with their clients shines through in every interaction.

 

Tune in to discover how Lucidity Bookkeeping is redefining bookkeeping for the modern entrepreneur, providing clarity where it matters most and empowering businesses to achieve financial success.

 

To learn more, click https://www.luciditybookkeeping.com/

 

Jason Hartley of Yum At Hart, LLC – Episode 105

Who can take a sunrise; Sprinkle it with dew? Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two?

The Candy Man can ’cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.



Have you ever traveled to a different country and discovered unique products by well-known brands that aren’t available back home? It’s a common experience for many globetrotters and expats. Companies leverage this by creating localized offerings that cater to regional tastes and preferences, enhancing their brand’s allure and creating a loyal customer base. These exclusive items often become coveted treasures for those who encounter them abroad. The desire to access these products can create a sense of longing and nostalgia, making them even more sought-after.



In this tantalizing episode of Small Business Marketing – Then & Now, we dive into the captivating world of global flavors with Jason Harley, the passionate founder of Yum At Hart LLC.

 

Join us as we explore Jason’s insatiable love for diverse and delicious snacks from around the world and discover the profound connections that food can create. At Yum At Hart, it’s not just about selling candy, drinks, and snacks; it’s a passionate quest to share the flavors, stories, and cultures that make each bite and sip a unique and unforgettable experience. Tune in to hear about Jason’s fervor for discovery as he scours the corners of the earth to bring you the most enticing, authentic, and surprising treats, each with its own fascinating tale to tell. Don’t miss this mouth-watering marketing journey that celebrates the universal language of food and the joy of culinary exploration!



To learn more, or to order some of your foreign favorites, click https://yumathartllc.co/

Cindy Jessup of Welcome Home Concierge- The Home Watch Experts – Episode 104

In this episode of Small Business Marketing – Then & Now, join us as we chat with Cindy Jessup, the founder of Welcome Home Concierge – The Home Watch Experts.

Discover how Welcome Home Concierge is revolutionizing the concierge industry by offering a diverse range of services to simplify your life. While her business addresses the need of running errands and waiting for deliveries to grocery shopping and pharmacy pick-ups, Cindy has found a valuable niche of monitoring and protecting the homes of “Snow Birds” and other seasonal residents to ensure the safely and continued maintenance of their properties.



She is a back-to-back winner of the Best of Sarasota Magazine (2023-24) and is dedicated to making life easier for busy professionals, individuals with mobility issues, and those who are thousands of miles away.



Tune in to learn more about the innovative solutions Welcome Home Concierge provides to enhance your daily life.



And for more information about Welcome Home Concierge, click https://www.whcsarasota.com/.

Larry Couf of Couf Plumbing – Episode 103

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In this episode of Small Business Marketing – Then and Now, we sit down with Larry Couf, owner of Couf Plumbing in Jacksonville, Florida.

 

Larry shares his inspiring journey of starting in the plumbing business and how he has leveraged the power of word-of-mouth marketing to grow his company. Through deep relationships with his customers and network, Larry has cultivated a loyal client base that continues to drive the success of Couf Plumbing.

 

Moreover, Larry discusses the importance of fostering a family atmosphere within his company, highlighting how he has built strong relationships with his staff to create a supportive and cohesive team.

 

Tune in to learn how Larry’s commitment to customer service and employee satisfaction has propelled Couf Plumbing to new heights in the competitive small business landscape.

 

To contact Couf Plumbing, click : https://www.coufplumbing.com/

 

Episode 102 – Natalie Hume, Quick Draw Caricatures

Join us in the latest episode as Natalie Hume, the Owner and Manager of Quick Draw Caricatures, takes us on a captivating journey of entrepreneurship. From the inception of her business in 2017 to becoming a sought-after caricature artist, Natalie shares insights into the challenges and triumphs of running a caricature booth. Discover how she and her team hit the road, traveling across the continent to leave a mark at county and state fairs. Learn about the artistry, the hustle, and the joy of bringing smiles to countless faces through her unique talent. Tune in for a colorful exploration of Natalie’s entrepreneurial adventure in the world of caricatures and fairs.

You can learn more about Natalie and Quick Draw Caricatures at www.qdcaricatures.com

Welcome to Small Business Marketing Then and Now a conversation with small business owners on how they marketed the launch of their business the evolution since then and how they have pivoted during this COVID-19. Brought to you by profit master business solutions more leads more sales and more revenue for your smaller medium sized business click find newrevenue.com to learn more now here’s your host Howard Wolpoff welcome back to small business marketing then and now I’m Howard Wolpoff your host again this is brought to you by prophet master business solutions and for today’s conversation we are going to get into discussion about arts about connecting with people about having great times and situations with friends and family and people you’re close with and just being out and having an adventure and at all wrapped up in a business that we’re going to discuss that’s it’s not a brick and mortar but actually travels around the country and even throughout Canada in working at state fairs big huge events and interacting with people through the art of caricature now you may have had a caricature done I think you all know what it is and have seen lots of them but it really is an amazing opportunity for an artist to take someone’s form and expand on it and create personality to this wonderful drawing that they can keep as a keepsake and leave with and sure many hang on their wall and look at for years to come so I’m very excited for this conversation today with Natalie Hume from quick draw caricatures and it it’s not just about building a business but it’s really building a life of adventure touring around the continent so Natalie welcome to our conversation today thank you I am very excited about this it’s been a long time since I’ve had a character done but I see so many of them and I’ve seen your work and it’s really incredible of how you really are capturing the not just the image but the essence of someone in a very brief moment of interacting with them and then immediately putting it down onto paper yeah it’s exactly that it’s more media stranger and kind of figuring out their personality in 5 minutes or less and drawing it as quick as you can and it’s amazing the results that turn out from that so let me let me start by asking you how did you get involved in the world of caricatures there was a company that came to my high school when I was 16 and they were looking for artists they could hey almost nothing and teach them how to draw caricatures and basically like you get paid you learn caricature and then you draw them all summer so I really was intrigued by this because they did a demonstration in my class and I thought it was phenomenal so I applied and they hired me and with some training but mostly I would say 90% was practiced and application and I worked for them for 10 years obviously they liked what they saw in your talents and gave you that opportunity and really enjoyed you growing with them as you took this as a skill and really created as your own talent and art form I didn’t even go to art school because I kept working for them every year and I was like I don’t need art school I can just draw caricatures and get good at something and get paid instead of paying school so I moved up in their leadership supervisor assistant manager and eventually I was getting paid year round and I was working seasonally so it was great but eventually you grow out of positions so eventually I left and I think that experience gave you the opportunity to see how to run the business part of the characters not just the drawing part of the characters and that really led you to start your own business and lead you to where you are today exactly I mean not only did I with that job that I basically got you know art classes and working with all these different illustrators who draw caricatures it was like preschool and then also when they made me a manager they taught me all of this incredible knowledge about how to run a business and how to create relationships with other businesses because we were contractors so it was just like wow I’ve I felt like I had gone to college and earned 2° but I got paid gone to college gone to art school gone to Business School it was quite in a on the job experience that that you received so tell us a little bit more about how you actually then started your own business I met uh my husband um and he was also a character artist but he was working in fairs I was working in theme parks which are very different atmospheres to work in theme parks are way more structured you pay a flat rent you have to have you know you know there’s actual employees involved where you have to have people you know people hired and there’s you know hourly wages and benefits and healthcare and things like that where fares work more of a freelance contractor 1099 setup where it’s more like Wild West because everyone’s an adult everyone’s working professional who are trying to make a cash on the quick cash and better money actually and fares because when the fair comes to town uh is there for two weeks or less and then it’s gone and then it goes to the next city so it takes excitement with it so I met him and I was so jealous of the kind of money he was making in Paris because I was making a straight salary struggling as a young adult and I was like the money you make is so amazing just drawing characters and he didn’t have to do anything else just draw but he knew that I was already running a business for someone and that I had a lot of experience and management and people management so he asked me if I would run our own caricature outfit that does fares picking my experience at theme parks and his experience of working fairs and knowing what they’re like and kind of bringing them together because he had zero management skills and I had 0 fair skills we kind of needed each other well it’s good we can make partnerships like that that take off obviously took off in different ways more than just the business part so you formulate the business you’re getting yourself sent how is it that you were able to get your first placements out of Fair so yeah he came to me and said so funny it’s like somebody told me that you can set up and be a marketplace vendor in Salem MA during Halloween I was like I don’t know if there is a fair he’s like Nah somebody told me it’s really good OK so it took just that small conversation and then hours of research finding what was he talking about and he said if you can figure this out we should do this and lots of phone calls lots of Google searches I only found a Facebook group that was a marketplace of New England and I messaged like 3 different people on that Facebook group asking how can you vend in Salem finally I just talked to the right person and they set me up with some paperwork and I felt like that took so long defined this because it wasn’t like a well-known thing it wasn’t like you could just find the website to become a marketplace vendor in Salem mass so we actually got there to Salem and it was the absolute worst fed up you could imagine like we were in an alleyway with tons of other vendors but no one was coming down there and I had just quit my job I was freaking out so I go to the street over where there’s other vendors in the marketplace and it is like bustling full of people and I’m like why aren’t we over there how can I get over the like one street over instead of this alley so I talked to this guy who’s selling T-shirts and he’s like I’m actually in charge of this setup I said hey how can I get where you guys are he’s like just be here at 6:00 AM tomorrow and first come first serve for a spot you just have to pay X amount dollars more to be over here and I was like I gave them the cash and I was like I’ll be here in the morning so I hustled we hustled our way to get the first spot there in the morning the best spot and it was just like unbelievable the lines we had we had a line for 8 hours and that is the line a mob of people that’s outstanding yeah and what a great learning experience in your first experimental opportunity to be a part of a fair but also what a great results in coming to that afterwards as well weird because I had just let go of security you know a constant paycheck every other week I just let it go and I was like I can’t not make money here so I was talking to whoever I could to make it better no and that’s one of the best things because you there are so many people who you come across on a regular basis that have their own experiences that have their own business strategies that you’re able to gain from their knowledge just by sparking up a conversation and creating a bond in a relationship yeah it was so helpful to do that because then we stayed in touch another year with the vendor and we were able to come back again and do it and have a great location there and we still do this today you know it’s six years later we’re still doing this like hustling thing where we just sort of like we don’t like this spot let’s talk to somebody I look communication relationships go a very long way in a relationship situation like you have with these fares and also seniority the more you come the more people know you the more you are showing the strength of what you can accomplish the better opportunity there is for you ohm absolutely it we even learned that if we’re in a certain state the same people who run the County Fair also work for the state board who runs the State Fair so that has also helped us getting to know those people and just being friendly with them and they remember you when it came time to the State Fair application because they’re like we know quick draw they’re great this their setups good and that that has helped us before as well that’s it’s obviously been a fantastic part of your growth and going back to this event in Salem this was really the first of many what was your next steps at that point to then try to grow this business and get you some more opportunities well for me personally I wanted to come into this business as a 5050 partner because I wasn’t married to my husband yet I wanted to protect myself so I was like so focused on finding events that we could do the next weekend and the next weekend and the next weekend or if there was fairs so I was with all my computer for hours just researching calling people messaging people on I would find their Facebooks if I had does the try to get in as soon as I could so I could make money so I could start growing the business get better tents better displays pay for the events because you have to pay for them ahead of time so it’s like I wanted to be in it 5050 so I just started filling our calendar with whatever I can find like garlic festivals and weekend fireman’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade just whatever I mean to keep us working to keep us drawing to build a revenue stream because we had you know just what we had made previous show so a lot of being on the road is hustling and creating those relationships and making those calls and trying to just book anything and everything onto your calendar are there are there events that stand out more than the others for whether it’s a positive or negative experience um uh yes uh I will start with a positive there is an event that we still do six years later it was one of the 1st events we did in Florida in North Florida and we still do it today because it’s at the like county fairgrounds and it is a Scottish it’s the Scottish games and it’s one day from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM but we’ve been going there for so long now we have so many return customers it’s just amazing and we are so busy I like we can’t telling ourselves you know if it ever kind of slows down well we can stop doing this it’s only gotten better like and we still do it because we have a great rapport there we know where our spot is every time we know all the other vendors and people come out there it’s a big event for one day and we absolutely love it it’s we get to dress up and we get to watch the Scottish games and completely slammed the whole time I absolutely love that event excellent and I’m so happy I’m we’ve never given it up because it’s compared to our other big name fares we do it seems so small and so little you know like not pro but I can’t I can’t give it up now because I’m just like attached to it it’s very personal you do have that relationship within bond with it yeah how about on the other side um so we were at an event in South Florida and we were approached by an event coordinator and they said I’ve got an arts and craft show coming up in December um if you guys would like to be a part of it and where we’re like yeah I could see December is a slow time for us this was maybe our second year ever of doing events and they said it’s only you know $250 to then for the weekend it’s and they’ll probably be 10,000 people there like I was pretty good you know for just a couple days and such a small fee and we just gave it a shot it was in South Florida and we sign up and attend and there was nobody there the advertisements were horrible there were these tiny little yard signs on the street like the like 8 1/2 by 11 signs so tiny and we’re like dude this is not going to be good we set up there and all the other vendors are so green you can tell they’re green you know um and you can tell um they’re so green and they’re so eager to be a part of this event and we were like we knew better you just think this wasn’t going anywhere and we didn’t I think we made $15.00 that whole weekend that that that would definitely be on the on the negative side for sure that’s for a lot of effort and traveling in and housing and all that it’s there’s a lot of expense that goes into these events and not have any type of return is definitely disappointing ohm yeah I think we act up and left halfway through the day second day yes cut your losses get back on the road get this yeah next time they even said you know next weekend we have an event we can let you bend there for free um I’d rather be at home doing nothing yeah that makes sense so you’ve obviously though found places that you do much better than that events and really grown it’s to a full calendar traveling around the country throughout the year now you also figured out a way to uh to do business in Canada how did that get started all my husbands I always tell people that this business is all his idea and I’m just the person he looks at me like I want to do this can you help me so he gets ideas all the time so he’s had been talking about Canada I don’t know he’s like It’s like where’s the one place people aren’t working I don’t know the Canada I was like you’re right no one works in Canada because it’s another country ohm in 2020 when no one was doing anything we were applying to all the largest fares in Canada we could find and we got in to one of them which was the biggest in Canada and it took a lot of research and I lefty lawyer fee the first time to process work visas because one I like to sleep at night and two crossing the border with a lot of equipment umm they like to ask a lot of questions there was no way I was going to cross the border as a port rest and work so getting work visas was a huge learning process and I still have to pay a lawyer for assistance but not for them to fully do it but I still pay lawyer fees but mainly it’s because they’re experts in this field and I am just an artist um and so it calms me down to be able to say hey I need you to look over all of this paperwork and give me the green so I feel confident well it obviously has worked out well for you because you you’re in a number of different places in Canada over the course of the year yes we are now in five Canadian events and two of them we have doubled our staff because we are so popular there um and it’s just overwhelming because I don’t know what I’ve heard is there’s not a company like us in Canada where we bring multiple artists with us there might be 1 caricature artist set up but one caricature artist cannot possibly serve the lines that we get where it’s 20 people deep for hours you just physically can’t so we provide this service where we bring six or more of our bodies with us who we’ve known for years and who are all great at this we bring a whole gang of character artists up to Canada and we can serve you know hundreds of people a night or more I mean gosh Steven hundred 800 people a night or more and we can do that because we bring the amount of artists we do with us and I can only see it getting better there because in the United states you can go to any fair and be like ohh let’s go to the caricature artist you know it’s very common here to see those around where in Canada they might have seen one at a fair back in the day or a couple years ago but to see it consistently and consistently now has only benefited us because we have such we’re getting such a loyalty in those Canadian shows which makes the expenses worth it because it is very expensive to go over the border as a business um but it’s worth it 100% so it definitely adds to the adventure that you’re on having these great experiences in Canada and growing what you have throughout the United states what do you see as the direction of your company over the next couple of years I definitely see us more leveling out because for the last few years we have been growing and growing and growing and growing and growing and it’s amazing one it’s so cool to see loyalty from the affairs loyalty from the customers the excitement and the caricature artist community about us because people ask to work for us all the time I get messages multiple times a week saying hey I’d love to work with you however I think having to tell people have to put you on a wait list to work with me because we just don’t possibly have the room to hire all of these artists because we don’t like to pack our tents full of artists like where you a tent is meant for six we will not act more than that in there because it’s uncomfortable for the guests and it’s crowded so I really CSS leveling out more because it’s been a lot on me and my husband to have our business grow so fast so quickly and you got to like keep up with all the new all the paperwork all the new tax things you have to do buying new equipment and buying more trucks to drive around the country seeing anything like that but we just want to level out a little more for sure where we just stop growing for a while and kind of ride this out and make changes so we don’t have to spend as much maybe on broken equipment or replacing things or buying new displays I also see us uh maybe even trimming some of the fat as well so there’s some events we do where you know maybe that profit margin isn’t as great as it really is because of maybe sales versus cost or the maybe it’s not long enough of this there to really get the return we need on it or is it kind of far away from the main route that’s something we’re talking about too is we go all over the country so things kind of have to make sense we can’t be in New York when week and then all the way in Portland OR then that’s just impossible so we need to kind of figure out a more fluid way to get to these events where we’re not killing ourselves driving 16 hours to make it there the next day which we both do one once a year it’s crazy I also see as a as beneficial drawing caricatures as to me in a few years I also see myself unavailable to draw full time like I do one thing my husband tells me is he’s like you do 3 jobs your character artist you’re a bookkeeper and you’re the manager of everything else it’s like yeah so I also see myself taking more on the business owner role and unfortunately less of the hands on artist role even though that’s where I get most of my happiness is drawing but it doesn’t have to be like if I’m at an event I will be out there every day drawing every day if I in the loud and by saying I’m allowed but I’ve been told take a day off all the time so I think some changes are going to be happening in the next few years where I myself am not drawing as much but more taking on things like at a regular pace instead of the cram it all into one night pace because you got to get this done like I do every year with 1099 I get these done in 24 hours which UM it’s looking like I’ll do be doing it again this year well it looks like every day is an experience with what you do in in obviously at least three different ways and it’s really incredible what you’ve built overall but let me ask this just in general what makes a good caricature likeness it has to look like the person and also it has to be fun in some way and by that it can be funny it can be cute it can be um extreme but if it doesn’t look like them then all of that effort is for nothing because that’s what they want the bottom line they want it to look like then like the worst thing I could hear is it doesn’t look like me hate because that’s my goal it’s like I want you to be like hey that’s Howard you know you don’t want to say that’s Howard’s wife and some guy like you don’t want to hear that so I want to if it doesn’t look like them all your efforts of making it exaggerated or funny or cute or worthless well it really does sum up a really unique and interesting business that you are in and one that people get joy from but may not even realize the concept of this it’s a business it’s not just someone putting a drawing on a piece of paper it really wanted an art form and 2:00 to be able to travel around the country the continents to do this really takes a lot of management and implementation and it’s it is pretty clear that your business is on the rise and continue will continue to rise and then have a lot more successes in the future so Natalie thank you so much for joining us and sharing your story and your journey with us thank you thank you so much for taking the time today too and thank you all for joining us as well I hope you’ve had a character done if not I suggest the next time you go to a fair you do so and specifically if quick draw is there to do it because it really is a lot of fun it really adds to the event and lets you take the event home with you in one way but really take a different level of your spirit home with you as well and it’s just great to see these types of businesses all over the place you can come up with any type of idea and create a business and be successful at it if you know how to hustle and if you know how to really keep building and taking advantage of opportunities which quick draw seems to have done very well so go out have a great rest of today and we will see you next time this has been small business marketing then and now brought to you by profit master business solutions marketing strategy for the small business owner to learn more click findnewrevenue.com

Episode One Hundred and One – Simone Bridges, Goddess Food Factory

Exciting news! Our next guest on the show is Simone Bridges, an award-winning celebrity chef, author, speaker, and high school senior! 

Simone is the founder of Goddess Food Factory, where she puts her unique spin on traditional desserts. Not only is she a talented chef, but she’s also passionate about increasing STREAM education (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) through her work and events. 

Simone is dedicated to serving her community by providing education on culinary basics, STREAM, and kidpreneurship. 

Join us to hear Simone share her journey in building a business while balancing schoolwork and preparing for college applications! 

To learn more, please click https://www.goddessfoodfactory.com/

As always, this podcast is brought to you by Profit Master Business Solutions, implementing measured marketing for small businesses while calming the chaos and creating the confidence and competence to exceed expectations.

Click www.profitmasterbusinesssolutions.com.

Episode 101 Simone Bridges

Welcome to Small Business Marketing – Then And Now, a conversation with small business owners on how they marketed the launch of their business the evolution since then and how they have pivoted during this COVID-19. Brought to you by Profit Master Business Solutions more leads more sales and more revenue for your smaller medium sized business click findnewrevenue.com to learn more now here’s your host Howard Wolpoff

 

Welcome back to Small Business Marketing – Then And Now I’m Howard Wolpoff your host again this is brought to you by Profit Master Business Solutions and today is going to be a very interesting conversation it’s going to make you think that you absolutely underachieved in in high school and started your career way too late because our guest today is someone that started their business at I believe the age of 11 and it has been an unbelievable journey for her as she’s grown into a young woman and really grown her business in different ways and the more remarkably the different ways that she is reaching out and making a difference within community through education through cooking through just being able to tell her story and it’s quite a story we’re joking she’s a senior in high school right now that that she for the most part has her essays for college written for her from her experiences she’s not going to have a lack of topic to talk about based on the type that she’s already had at this young age and her name is Simone Bridges her business is Goddess Food Factory and Simone welcome to our conversation .

 

today hi thank you for having me

 

well thank you for joining us I’m very excited to learn a lot more about you really have had quite an experience in the business world growing up at the same time and going to middle school and high school at the same time it really is first of all phenomenal have you’ve been able to stretch your hours and calendars so much to accomplish so much because high school does take up a lot of time in addition to extracurricular activities and then being in a business and really touching people’s lives so let’s really start and get an understanding of why did you feel that you were old enough and ready to start a business and give us that spark of what you were you were beginning at that time

 

well my mom always told me to start doing whatever I felt like I wanted to do as far as my dream goal or my dream job and I was always in the kitchen making something new because ever since I was three years old I’ve been baking with my granny so anytime that I got that my dad wasn’t on the stove cooking get up or my sister wasn’t I was in the kitchen baking and when that kitchen was smelling like sugary goodness my mom knew OK she got something going on she’s baking it up we have to start her somewhere so the business side of my mom the entrepreneur side of my mom said OK you can start your own business we can sell all of your treats and really from there we just started thinking of different ideas I thought about the name Goddess Food Factory and because I was thinking long term so when I get older I want to have my own restaurant with my sister and I want to have a factory in the back so kids can be able to tour this stuff so I was thinking long term my smart break so I just came up with that clever name goddess food factory and from there we thought about extreme baking boxes we thought about a clothing line we thought about starting meeting nonprofit where I can give back to the community and be able to have opportunities to have other kids that want to be able to have their own business get inspired when I either go out and do my workshops or go out speaking to them anything or give back to them give them back to school items I’ve done a lot of different things so really just comes from my dream team my mom is my inspiration she’s a wonderful business owner and then everybody around me you know just encourages me to keep going and different ideas come up all the time you know I it’s never a time where I don’t think of different treats that I can bake in different recipes that I can come up with for my customers to try so I’ve just been having a lot of things up my sleeve

 

well you definitely have and obviously selling treats and creating revenue from baking has been one of them throughout the course of time but you definitely evolved and found different ways to interact with people and especially kids to bring education into the mix and make that a focal point of how you’re interacting with them and how they can learn different types of lessons just through baking so how did that come about?

 

 so I’m not going to take 100% of the credit because nobody ever accomplishes everything by themselves it’s always somebody helping them out always somebody that could help improve it’s like a scientist experiment is the scientist that tries a new study and then you have other scientists to do different trials on the study over and over again to see if we can improve this this theory or law you know it always is improved so that’s kind of how I roll like I might come up with an idea and then my mom asked them to it and we make it better and better and better and better so that’s kind of how we roll you know she came she thought it was thinking about a way that we can teach kids to learn but do it in an interactive way and I know that I always love to bake a lot of anytime I have sleepovers too me and my friends speak it in the kitchen we start making something cool and out of this world because we’re just hungry look we’re young I started off when I was 11 like you mentioned before work so we were young my mom is not a chef she is not the type of person that gets in the kitchen and cooks it’s usually my dad or my sister and most of the time my sister was either out with her friends and my dad drives trucks so he’s out pretty often so all the cooking just passed down to me I was really making the food and my mom was buying the ingredients and I was cooking up in the kitchen making something new so even when my friends would come over we would bake something new we would make some different type of meal and I see that they enjoyed it so I know OK I’m not just the only person that likes making different things trying to do different things so I need that baking would definitely be an interactive thing to do so I knew we had to do a baking box where my mom was like OK and he said be some type of education in it because she’s just been a teacher for years so she’s all about learning and education and I love school so I’ve been all about that too so we said OK why not put it inside of the baking box as well why not making an educational fun baking box so I know that a lot of people do STEM which is science technology engineering and mathematics but I couldn’t forget about reading and the arts because you cannot do anything without reading you have to read everything first and get your background information before you try to move forward just like any Baker you have to read other recipes before you decide to make a new treat or tweak it if anything you have to get a base you have to start from the ground of something so you know just like anybody else do your research you have to read so we have to add in reading in the arts because there is no dating without the art you have to make it look presentable all the time because people eat with their eyes if it’s not presentable with their eyes then good luck so I always made sure I went by STREAM and only STREAM is super important science technology reading engineering arts and mathematics is how I lead so we just came up with the extreme baking pots and it really is true that there’s so many aspects of STREAM that go into baking so if you’re not reading the recipe correctly you can make a lot of mistakes with that there’s the math in the in the fractions of cups of sugar and other pieces of it that got to go in the right way the end of presentation of the cake or the pastry it really is a very big difference I’ve a friend who’s trying to create a different baked goods for his young son matching little characters from shows it works for him that his sons buying it they don’t match very well he’ll post up on Facebook and then the original his end result that probably wouldn’t sell very well in a in a bakery window but that’s also the key to the aspect of it really is an arts to make some of these things. I know some pastry chefs who really do an amazing job of making things look real that that’s in the end it is really just cake but it doesn’t look like cake that is 100% true a lot of times I may I’m looking at YouTube like master chef or sometimes a lot of cooking videos will pop up on my Reels and I know this is just one specific channel and it says is it real or is it just cake and so they slice in between it you’d be like is it actually a basketball or is it just a cake that looks like a basketball and sometimes they have like ones that they do like steak they do all different types of lines different objects so it’s really interesting how close you can get something because not only do is there icing now there’s there is gnoshthere’s a whole bunch of different types of on ways that you can get stuff on kicks like they have markers where you can paint on the cake or draw on the cake they even have the little spray paints that you use now so that it’s just it’s still got so incredible art is definitely a big thing .

 

I saw a  video in the last week that was it was is this cake but they all were not cake so you sitting there with anticipation and they can’t cut into the to the pool ball and all these other things so it makes it even more so incredible of some of these creations that that people have done but you also at a very young age actually had your own space to do little events for parties and for individual teachings that that’s pretty incredible a lot of responsibility .

 

yes I had my own shop I had my grand opening for my own shop January 28, 2017 and when I walked so I didn’t actually set it up I was surprised when I set it up because my mom did not tell me that I was having a shot in the beginning she did not tell me I always wanted my own bakery I always wanted my own you know store that I could sell my baked goods out of because at first I started out selling in school and a lot of people liked my treats and I was selling to close family members some of my mom’s fellow workers and so it started off like that but I always wanted to place that I can go in and so I choose to have little parties for little girls and things like that but my mom I don’t know how she did how she found it she just went out searching for it I’m guessing just searching for a place for me because you know my mom always wanted my dreams to come true like any other mom does and so she just picked me up one day from school and she drove me to someplace I she didn’t tell me where I was going she was just like we’re going somewhere just getting the car come on we’re going somewhere and I’m just like what where are we going where are we going because I just had this long day at school I just want to go home but I was glad that she took me there because it was it was off of Atlantic Blvd. and when I got there I locked in I saw these shells up and she was like Simone this is going to be your storefront this is going to be your bakery this is your place and I was just so excited I could not believe my eyes I was so shocked because I’m eleven years old with my own storefront that is absolutely incredible like dream come true because I was raised to where I was going to this place called sweet and sassy where it was like a place where little girls could get their makeup done you could ride in the limousine they’ll take you around the block but you still felt like OK I’m living the life so I just wanted that same experience for other little girls and I just remember my mom my dad my aunt a couple of my mom’s friends is coming in there they were all decorating it all setting everything up hanging everything up hanging everything and then I had my grand opening on the 28th of January in 2017 and it was just so surreal we sold so many baked items out like brownies cupcakes cookies Oh my gosh so many different chuckles chef aprons chef hats T-shirts it was just incredible I was super shocked so you had that storefront you had some activity going on how were you marketing yourself or as the business being marketed so that people knew that you existed and they can take advantage of the opportunities you were creating so I believe because I was so young and I started on the Steve Harvey show not too long not too long after that I ended up getting even more and more inquiries about you know being put on different type of television shows and things like that but before any of that started I started off just handing out business cards because my mom was an entrepreneur herself she owns a business called lavish moment so she already had like the business side of her so she already knew kind of like where to leave me at so I started off handing out business cards I was making lots and lots of videos posting on my social media constantly um I’ve made sure that anytime I post it I use lots of hashtags that people would be able to identify me by so I would use Simone Bridges hashtag teen chef hashtag team Baker hashtag Baker Jacksonville FL all the hashtags that I could possibly use to promote my business so anything anybody will look up like they’re trying to look for a person that bakes cakes or a person that bakes brownies or any type of trees in Jacksonville FL I would use that hashtag I was just thinking like that because if a person doesn’t know they’re going to look up that hair secret they’re going to look up this certain these certain words and I want my face to pop up and then it will also be times where I would go to lots of different events where umm there’ll be at these convention centers and I would have to bake like dozens and dozens and dozens of brownies and cupcakes like I’m talking about hundreds like 300 different treats and I would take it all to the place that I was that the Convention Center was at and sell out every time and that’s mainly how I started my business going to these shops where it would be about seven different entrepreneurs with different businesses and we’re all young some of them like I was the one of the youngest kids but some of them were like at Max like 18 so we were all like younger and we would just be sharing our business we would team up together it would be like OK you post me on your page so your calls could see me I’m going to post you on my page so my father could see you like we were doing business for business share for share story for story a lot of those things you just have to network and you have to share your business don’t be afraid to tell people about yourself and be yourself most importantly be the loving wonderful positive spirited person that you are and show everybody that you know what your dream is your goal is what your niche is and I know a lot of people at the time you see it more and more people doing it now but at the time when I first started I didn’t know anybody that was baking while teaching STREAM I didn’t know anybody that was doing that so because I was different I got a lot of recognition and eventually then I started being on the news and not only in the news in Jacksonville FL I was in the news in Saginaw MI I was in the news and a whole bunch of different areas and so I was just like wow look I would go out of town to possibly do a speaking engagement and then the news station would hit me up or the person that um flew me out would end up saying hey I can get you on the news if you want me to get you on there so you can be able to spread your business even more I’ll just be like yes 100% I would love to do that because that’s me being able to market my business even more so it was just like blessing after blessing after blessing because then TV shows started hitting me up boom next thing you know I’m on the Steve Harvey show next thing you know I’m getting it all different types of products sent to me for me to review so now you have these people that have these different major products that’s having me review their product they’ll be posting me on their page so now I’m getting even more recognition you just have to hustle and grind and you have to be locked in with social media because when you’re locked in with social media it can take you far away but don’t let social media over become you like don’t let it control you have to be able to stay positive keep a good mindset be able to control um good mental health and make sure you have that lockdown because you don’t want to feel as if you’re overwhelming yourself with too much of this know how to take little breaks as well so you know just having a good support team and being myself and sharing my dream which is really wonderful and really the have those types of experiences in general but at such a young age is really is fantastic and really is a good launch point for a lot of other things that that your business can evolve in.

 

Now you have quite a busy year ahead of you starting your senior year of high school with just school itself and any extracurricular activities and applying for colleges and everything and your business So what is going on currently with your business and do you see any type of growth and opportunities that are happening over the course of this coming school year?

 

 so currently with my business I’ve been getting lots and lots of event table like 3 tables that I have to do for events so I’ve been doing a lot more events for weddings baby showers birthday parties a lot more cake orders so that’s been a blessing because I’ve always wanted to get into doing more cakes because I feel like that’s just like the heart of baking you know you’re making your if you have your own bakery you have to know how to decorate cakes and you know I thought that was always the most fun part for me so just being able to Try different things and have new ideas thrown at me and challenged myself and say hey the customer says hey I want you to try to do this cake with this design and I want this and this and that and I’m just like hey I’ll take the challenge I mean if you trust me I can really blow you away with this design and every single time they’re just satisfied customers and I’m super-duper happy I’m always learning and sometimes I have cake orders that I will be responding and I’m not necessarily working with fondant yet but I’m like OK well now this gives me the opportunity to try to learn how to use it how to work with it eventually and be able to take those orders too so it’s just been a wonderful journey for me and right now I’m really trying to focus on school a little bit more because it’s you know coming towards the end for me for high school I’m not necessarily 100% sure where the business side is going to go when I go to college because I’m obviously not going to be able to do as much orders because I’ll be out of town I think I’m going to be in a dorm but I’m not 100% sure yet because I I haven’t selected any college here or haven’t even you know started with that whole entire process yet because it’s just the beginning of my senior year so I still haven’t decided on a certain college or anything like that for me it’s mainly just whatever college give me the best scholarship and so whenever I end up going to college I think that I will still be able to do regular treat orders and sell my treats but probably not anything big because I won’t have the access to be able to do that depending on what college I’m going to like if I’m at a College in Atlanta I probably will because I have down in Atlanta so I’m able to go to their house make whatever treat I need to do and then give it to the person but if I’m somewhere like Louisiana I can’t because I don’t have any access to anybody in Louisiana so now I’m just like I can do something small something regular but I can’t do any like big tree order so it’s just it’s it’s all about wherever my future holds me I know God will lead me to the right direction but something that I’ve actually been doing really interested is being a realtor because I want to be able to flip houses so this summer I actually have an internship that I’m doing where I get to work with a realtor side by side so that’s what I’m really excited about I haven’t really spoken much about it to my Instagram page about being gross that’s probably something I’m going to do just to surprise a little bit because I don’t think anybody has that vision in their head needing a realtor like I don’t think anybody knows that that’s something that I want to do just very few people.

 

amazing and is I guess sums up all the words that aren’t coming out of my mouth of all the things you’ve been able to accomplish and get or get started on at your age and really show some growth in and really create your brands you that that’s the one of the biggest things you’ve done you’ve had all this different media exposure and opportunities even recently now you’ve been in two different pageants and just one miss Jacksonville so with his other opportunities where you’re spreading your wings and getting more exposure for your brand for yourself and showing different types of talents that you have to the world.

 

 yes so it just has been a wonderful experience and speaking about that pageant the pageant was a wonderful experience for me because it was my first time being inside of like a full national pageant where you have people coming from all different types of states all coming down to compete inside this patent cell it was a really big experience for me being able to be crowned miss Jacksonville team and then miss national American team first runner up was definitely in a big award to add to my resume because never would have ever thought that I would have even came inside of a place I mean I know I’m a queen in my own heart in the in my own mindset but you know those girls they have been doing pageants for years and years and years and some of them since they were five years old so it’s like why would I give my mind you know I have I don’t have any experience in the previous time so in my head I’m like uh you know I’m just doing it for fun you know to build different relationships with different girls something that I can try out that’s new but I didn’t think I honestly didn’t think that I was going to place but it was like you know when you think about it I am a very bubbly fun person I love getting dressed up I had a wonderful time and I think that’s what it was mainly about because I enjoyed myself and I had a wonderful time and it showed and plus that dancing number I know I did that I know I did my thing from the dancing number because I love dancing so you know blessings are blessings and I was just happy that I was able to be crowned first runner up it was a wonderful experience I loved it so with all that you’ve accomplished in this really short period of time in in your lifespan well where is the thing you’re most proud of one of the things that I’m most proud of is being well my first accomplishment will always sit with me my first major one which was being on the Steve Harvey show that will always sit with me and be one of like my favorite accomplishments but I would say something that I’m most proud of is when I started my nonprofit organization Simone British inspires Inc and I got over 100 kids sponsored I’m talking like seriously over 100 kids sponsored to attend the event for free and during the event they were able to visit all the STREAM stations so it was a science station technology station reading station and so far on and then they were able to see all different types of apps we had a speaker like a motivational speaker we had two different singers I performed a dance with some of my other friends they had two different meals yeah we fed them twice and then they also got all different back to school items so they got back to school backpacks and inside of it came with another drawstring bag so like something like they wanted to put something little in there they could have that little small bag as well it came with pencils pens markers crayons glue sticks and glue bottles we have rulers and we have notebooks composition books scissors Oh my God they just got so many stuff and they all got STREAM shirts to take so man oh man that event it took a lot it took a lot but have a great support team a lot of people that want great things for me so I was just blessed enough to be able to have a crew and I special things to me knowing good people when I see good people because I was blessed to have a good friendship with a lot of girls and I still talk to every single one of them every single one of them till this day we still talk and we still have conversations matter of fact I’m meeting up with one of them next week on Wednesday so we can go out and catch up because you know I love catching up with people so um yeah just honored to be able to have branches with them because they all came out to support me help out because we needed lots of helpers to guide other kids to be able to you know keep them company get anything that they needed and just basically like assistance so I was honored to be able to have them behind my back because they made sure that that event ran smoothly in my mom’s heels to my mom you know hey hi hey ho whatever they want to say she is amazing because she was the one that was like boss lady that day she made sure everything was in order she told everybody where to go what to do um when this was happening when the next thing was happening and I just let her lead and I fell right in line and just did my thing and everything just fell wonderfully I mean it was a very successful event and I had no idea that I was going to get that many kids in that event but I did and it was amazing.

 

 oh that’s phenomenal it really is it’s great how you really have looked at community it’s as opposed to just building business it’s really how can you create opportunities to get other kids to learn and to have experiences and to grow from those experiences so obviously it’s not just going to a baking class or event it’s learning how to bake so they can bake for themselves and if it’s truly inspiring and in such a great story that really is in the early chapters of what your book is going to be it’s pretty incredible of where your path is going to take you now if people want to learn more about you or to really do business with you purchase items and really have a full understanding of all the things that that you have available to them what’s the best way for someone to reach you ?

 

so I have two ways that are really great to reach out to me either to as far as booking definitely my website which is www.goddessyfactory.com and there’s my e-mail in there my number on there just in case you have any questions but I definitely respond faster to Instagram Instagram DMS my Instagram is  GODDESSFOODJAX and if you wanted like any treats or anything like that that you were wondering if I can do or if I can replicate anything that would be the best way to send me the picture date time and exactly what you wanted and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible if my website is www. GODDESSFODDFACTORY.com.

 

 well Simone thank you so much for joining us I’m really sharing such a great inspirational story for kids to emulate as they’re they have a spark in being an entrepreneur that seeing the things you’ve accomplished and they can be accomplished you just got to go have a great calendar and a lot of a lot of balance and it could support team and you and you could do a lot of things so someone thank you so much for all that you’ve done but also for joining us today.

 

 thank you for having me I really enjoyed my time.

 

 and thank you for joining us as well it’s incredible I think we all can look back and think about the things we did or didn’t do in our teens and see that there’s was great opportunity to get your life going and like granted social media exists now which didn’t exist decades ago that definitely helps in the in situations like this but this is all about the spark is all about having that energy having that those ideas having those talents and having the support team to push you through and to get you rolling and to help you along the way so if you have teens with a with the spark of something that they really enjoy perhaps a good little push will get them going to what their career is at a very early age definitely somebody who investigated about with those that are in your lives but go have a great rest of today and we will see you next time this has been small business marketing then and now brought to you by profit master business solutions marketing strategy for the small business owner to learn more and click findnewrevenue.com.

Episode One Hundred – Dawn Archer, Dawn To Dusk Catering

This episode is a cause for celebration as we have reached number 100! 100 Small business owners sharing their marketing journeys as they have built their businesses.  We are incredibly excited to share small business owner one hundred with you.


Dawn Archer has been on her own journey, personally ad professionally.  From teaching friends to cook, she took her passion for cooking and created her own catering business, Dawn To Dusk Catering, in Jacksonville, Florida.


She discusses her businesses beginnings while sharing her passion for food, good nutrition and wonderful experiences.  She also shares some of her many talents, which include being an award winning dancer and choreographer and a recent pageant champion, naming her Jacksonville Senior Diva for 2023.


To learn more about Dawn and her thriving catering business, please click www.dawntoduskcater.com.

Welcome to Small Business Marketing Then and Now a conversation with small business owners on how they marketed the launch of their business the evolution since then and how they have pivoted during this COVID-19. Brought to you by Profit Master Business Solutions more leads more sales and more revenue for your smaller medium sized business click find newrevenue.com to learn more now here’s your host Howard Wolpoff welcome back to small business marketing then and now I’m Howard Wolpoff your host and again this is brought to you by Profit Master Business Solutions and today our conversation is going to be about catering now catering is a major part of any events that you’re planning food is important to many people for nutrition it’s important for keeping people healthy but it’s also part of the ambiance of an event and having the right person to create that ambience to create that menu and to present it for your guests is extremely important for having that right person really knows what people like and provide you with options of what opportunities there are to put onto the table and to serve your guests it’s very key part to the success of the event that you’re planning and I’m very excited about the guests that we have on today uh she is a caterer here in the Jacksonville FL area her name is Dawn Archer from Dawn To Dusk Catering and Dawn welcome to our conversation today hi Howard I’m so excited to be here today well I’m again very excited to have you on and to learn a lot more about you and your journey as a business owner and as a caterer because catering really is a again when you’re planning an events food is important people come to weddings and large scale events and the food is something that going to be talking about afterwards and something they’re going to enjoy during the event itself and something about the it’s about that presentation that the event is making so your role is very important in the all the different planning stages but the success of any type of event yeah absolutely so it’s exciting to learn about the behind the scenes part from someone who does these events who plans these events and I’m also really excited to share your journey with the audience that we have and why don’t we start there at the beginning so what was it that made you decide to go in and create a catering business in 2013 I relocated to Jacksonville so I’ve been always have a passion about food and cooking I’m such a foodie but now I finally have the opportunity to cook so I did a lot of cooking for my family for my kids and I love to share food my neighbors my friend they all love my food so much so I started to help them do their parties and one day my neighbor asked me ohh I have a friend she wants to learn how to cook can you teach her I said ohh I loved you so I started to teach cooking teach cooking class them my students they appreciate my personality so much so they suggest hey why don’t you start a catering business I said ohh I don’t know a lot about catering but you know what I just Google I learn and I made a plan I did it I started I finally started my catering business I really I’m so glad I did that well it’s key that you have that excitement and passion about your business and a lot of energy into all that you do to put into creating the food for creating these events so you definitely found and it’s fun to hear someone talk about someone finding their passion and being able to create into a business that that that brings them joy on a daily basis yes because catering or cooking it’s a is labor intensive work but I love it because I’ve been always a very creative person I think cooking doing the presentation it’s a kind of art it’s a way I express myself and you you’re really correct in saying that because the way food represents it on a plate really can be very artistic then I guess the science and thought process into the ingredients you’re using to create a dish every chef has their own creative style that goes into the ingredients and I’m sure you have your own personal touches that go along with that as well right exactly it really show your personality so I always try to use the best ingredients I always test the recipe try to make it better and I think that my food is my clients always just describe my food is so awesome it’s like it’s not like OK after you eat the food you forget the flavor and they always remember that so Chris memorable special moment for them well that’s very important to create that memorable experience because that also is part of your branding that goes along with growing your business and getting the notoriety that you want to get your name out there to make sure that your business keeps on growing now when you started this business so you again you had not had an experience being a chef and really care business before what were you doing is to start letting people know that you were open for business and looking for clients in the first year I started my business I did some very traditional marketing advertising for my business I build a website then I invest some advertising in different kinds of platforms pay advertising to some wedding wear the knots or some service platforms then after that I started to build my the base of my clients after a while I started to see the conversion rate I think it’s pretty low but at that time I have to because I know nobody in the market I I’m still I’m I was still in the beginning to establish my business but then at 2020 COVID hit so that’s that give me the reason to change my strategy because all the when news all the big events shut down that I had to think about what I should do what I what I’m going to continue this business so during the COVID because of the I remember in the first half year all the restaurants shut down people has to stay at home so I started to do family meal then I put Facebook ads to my neighborhood to the groups or doing Facebook personal last personalized ads so the people leave close to me they come to my place pick up your dinner your lunch so I was very happy I did that for the community a lot of people order food for their neighbors has COVID patients or they pick up the food for the college kids uh for once you started to get back to normal so I thought I thought about my strategy again so I think the key for a small business is you evaluate your strategy all the time and make the adjustment like an old saying say small boat it’s easy to turn around compared to The Titanic it does make a lot of sense and you started a business in a time where you had to make lots of different types of evaluations because you and everyone else was not expecting what 2020 became with COVID and the shutdowns and you were did a very good pivot in trying to do these personalized meals for individuals or families but how sustainable was that as a as a business model as you were viewing it during that time was that something you could have easily continued on doing or was important to for any number of reasons to focus more on event yeah pivot is a very interesting word because you know I love dancing there is a dance move called pivot is I just step forward at your turn around so I did a lot of that in my business I remember in the end of twenty 20s things started to open up so people can now they can go out to eat restaurants most restaurants have the curbside deliver I remember yeah so I don’t think people really need me to do that much home meals then I started to do smaller size events at people’s home at their backyard at their big kitchen because it’s so much easier for both for me and my clients at that time the venue they still need you some vaccine certificate or you have to fill out a bunch of forms of information so we just do the events at people’s house people’s home that is so much easier and then I continued this this model until now and I love to do the intimate smaller gatherings I think it’s more high end more profitable and easy to for me to operate my business but yeah the same time I still to the bigger events too but that’s not like in the beginning of my business OK I try to do 100 people event 200 people event so yeah it just you have the different emphasize and I have to sense that planning on your end for a 200 person event is very different than planning on a 70 person event yes so much to you know caring the biggest challenge is it’s not like you cook for four people six people for 10 people that’s 200 people how can you make the schedule keep all the food ready keep them safe keep them fresh keep them warm that’s a really big challenge and it’s really can be the difference in a successful event or a non-successful event if the food is not kept the right way you want everything to be warm when it’s being brought out to each and everyone’s plate so it’s it really takes a lot of business management in addition to the knowledge of the ingredients and what tastes right and how to create a recipe and implement a recipe when putting together any size of that whether it’s 70 or 200 to make sure that the client is getting what they’re asking for so true yeah talking about the marketing and I did a lot of we said organic marketing on the traditional yeah I made a lot of media appearance magazine interviews so that’s helped me to promote my business too for example I was I’ve been in the local TV shows four or five times actually this morning I just came I just came back from another live show and also I sponsored some local events I have some loyal clients all my social media like Facebook I keep doing I tried to make my contents interesting because I actually I noticed some business our Facebook page they post and nobody likes or one or two but I think some of my post is really people really love the content of what I put over there and that’s one of the challenges with Facebook really has they had its moments for businesses where you’re getting the likes and people following but it’s very hard for business to get people to really interact with their content so it really does say a lot about you with the relationship you’ve created with those following you and your business that that you’re getting a response so it’s part of the challenges of social media where people have their favorite places that they go Facebook definitely has faded in comparison to the instagrams of the tick tocks and how people absorb their social media and what places that they’re spending more time on so it’s good that you’re getting some results and obviously business from its them from the work you’ve been putting in yeah I think I’m doing pretty good on Facebook but Instagram I’m going to do more on my Instagram the reason was my targeted audience I outer group of people because most of my clients are retired the families or people celebrate their special day special moments but most of most of my clients are in the older age group that’s why Facebook because Instagram and more generation I think yeah it’s definitely evolved and yes older people are probably more on Facebook than others but they are finding their way to some other platforms but it’s good that you’re having that as a as a resource for you now obviously your business has grown since that COVID. And the things you learned from it and the what type of events are you mostly catering these days yeah all kinds of special moment all the milestones in their life anniversary party small weddings retirement party birthday party yeah I feel I’m always celebrating something so I feel I feel so lucky I can be part of it and make their special moment even more memorable and that’s very important to be that people have the right people to hire to make these moments special and obviously finding you to be part of these celebrations is been a big part of them enjoying marking that accomplishment and bringing friends in to celebrate with them so when you are developing this type of business like for example you were on TV this morning what kind of responses are you getting and how are people responding to you when they’ve seen you on a TV set we’re like that cooking with the with the with the show hosts I think they feel more excited when they work with me the ohh this is a celebrity shape shift uh so I think that that’s as some interesting thing to my profile you know I also joined like you know the miss senior Jacksonville pageant yeah it’s July 29th and I will the be senior diva yeah that’s interesting title I kind of like diva yeah and I’m glad you brought that up I wanted to jump into that as well having a relationship with the community seems to be a major part of how you’re marketing your business and that type of local networking so getting involved in the local organization and being a contestant in a in a beauty pageant really catering to your target audience at the moment was a great decision on your end and obviously even more so where you were you won you were named the miss Jacksonville diva it’s on the uh the age bracket that that that you were contested in and you got some nice notoriety on the local media and obviously as a great accolades from people that that follow you on Facebook as well to celebrate with you yeah I was on the Morning News because uh I my platform for this pageant is promote home cooking nutritional eating habits I think that’s really a combined and bound with the food industry the catering and I actually I want to share my resource share some of my cooking skills with the community and us so two years ago I actually sponsored the local dancing with the stars I was one of the cater to provide the food for the whole event that that’s a charity fundraising event too so I tried to be get more involved with the community giving back to our community to which Is a great way for business to market itself but also connecting with types of events that connect with you so obviously you mentioned before as a passion you also have is dance and that’s a connector for you do what to appreciate the talents of others in in in dancing and get your name out for your business in that community yes Peter several dance events in the ballroom dance competition dance a show you know because as a dancer myself I tried to keep you know good shape so I know how dancers they what kind of diet is good for dancers for athletic people and yeah that’s why I try to promote the nutritional eating habits for me it took me several years to get better understanding about nutrition all the eating habits really affect your overall lifestyle yeah everything and that has more defined you as an expert in this industry because you are able to relate to different people and the needs that they have because yes food is not just fuel it’s either that or some people eating as a hobby but it’s really there there’s nutritional needs that your body has that you want to make sure that you’re feeding it the right ingredients for what you’re trying to accomplish runners need the different types of nutrition then weight lifters do and dancers with that with that cardio focus of what they’re doing and the specific needs of the movement of their body and the and the forms that they are creating in in doing so it’s important for them to have the right physical shape to be able to make that that lasting impression with every move yeah exactly also there is a trend for people adapting different diets you know vegan vegetarian gluten free keto in my house I have two sons still stay with me one is a meat eater another one is vegan I cook for those two kids all the time they have the completely opposite diet so I really know I learned a lot and how to cater different diet restrictions yeah I think that’s very important for the catering business it’s it really is and really I think as you brand yourself in different ways and make sure that your name is getting out there having those types of knowledge and experience to get out there because I’m sure that you’ll have some set menu for what you’re creating for an event and then they’ll come back saying well we have these two people that are vegetarian and this person that has this special diet so I’m sure that you are fielding questions on a regular basis of how to adjust and adapt for individuals as opposed to the large scale number that you were contracted to create for yes yeah totally agree how challenging is that in the in the master planning for an event I think my uh there’s one unique uniqueness of uh my catering cooking is I can cook everything so I 100% customize your menu there’s no limit so just let me know what’s your name what’s your diet restriction what you want and I will customize the menu for you so a lot of my clients are really impressed because a lot of caterers or restaurants they only has a set menu a fixed one OK you can just choose 123 but I have a general menu too but because of my background I can cook Asian food I can cook western food I can cook Latin American food anything and I’ve combined them to like word cuisine so that’s very interesting and I try to have something that is not easy to find in a restaurant if people can order in a restaurant why they come to me it’s a very good point it’s good vision for what you see the your business to be and what you want it to be so within that thought where do you see your business going over the next few years and actually I I’m I’ve been thinking about this question in the past several months it’s like what we call it how you scale your business I think the challenge or difficulty for small business is expand your business how can you expand to this I’m still thinking about that so my goal is I’m trying to develop some special food product that’s because I can only cook for one event one day sure that makes sense yeah I winna do something like more like I can serve more people and there are lots of grand and I can put something in the white space in the market but that’s my secret I cannot share clear enough so if people have an events if they have a nutritional needs that they’re trying to address if they have any questions for a chef and they want to get in contact with you what’s the best way for people to find you they can go to my website dontyouthatscatter.com and send me a message or e-mail me even contact me on Facebook Instagram yeah I think my website will be the best way to contact well I sense that people will definitely have an interest in learning more about the opportunities you offer within catering and for their events and really just don’t I appreciate you coming on and sharing your story and sharing your journey on building your business and sharing your passions of dance and cooking and I’m very excited to see where your path goes in the future so thank you so much for joining us oh it’s such a pleasure chatting with you thank you and thank you all for joining us as well it’s great when someone finds their passion and goes after it and creates a business that brings joy to people bring is a major part of people celebrations and that’s what dawn has done in creating her business and the way it’s grown she’s been able to connect with even more people and bring more happiness to them and some really great food in the process so definitely click on her website to learn more about dawn and her catering opportunities go out have a great rest of today and we will see you next time this has been small business marketing then and now brought to you by profit master business solutions marketing strategy for the small business owner to learn more

Episode Ninety Nine – James Harrell, James The Printer

Our latest small business owner has build his business around relationships and the concept of concierge printing.

James Harrell has created a one stop shop for printing and marketing needs, providing quick and simple solutions to the time-consuming tasks related to design, print procurement and mailing.  He discusses his business journey and how he has heavily leaned on networking, particularly in BNI, to grow.

To learn more, click https://www.jamestheprinter.com/.