“If you make the effort to make your clients feel special, they will in turn reward you...even if you mess up”
James Beard said, “Food is our common ground, a universal experience”. No matter your station in life, or where in the world you live, food is the driving force for bringing people together to share stories and laughter. At most weddings the meal outshines the ceremony and becomes the main event. Every day, business deals go down over the dinner table where people both literally and figuratively break bread to find a common ground. And we just passed the American holiday of Thanksgiving, which does away with ambiguity and completely centers around the idea of coming together for a home cooked meal. Today’s guest, Simi Hansen, is one of the wonderful people enabling us to have our universal experience. Simi started her own successful catering business and brings amazing cuisine to where it is needed. She’ll tell us all about her strange path to becoming a chef and how changing other peoples experiences has changed her life.
“Everything is the way your grandma would make it basically...except for maybe with a little better technique”
“It’s really fun to be able to connect with people face to face and not just be hidden in the back like you would in a restaurant”
Contents
2:00 – Simi’s path to becoming a caterer
3:00 - How Simi’s background benefitted her career switch.
5:55 – Using cooking as therapy.
6:55 – Cooking school.
7:40 – Choosing catering.
8:45 – Prep for the catering business.
10:35 – Listener question - The legality of when and where you cook food.
12:30 – Getting the business launched and started
15:00 – Getting consistent business and awesome clients.
18:00 – Memorable experiences.
21:00 – Man hours in the kitchen.
21:40 – Favorite foods.
22:10 – Making vs purchasing.
23:10 – Listener question - Higher expectation for gourmet or comfort food?
24:50 – Most fulfilling part of the job.
26:05 – Do you get to walk around and talk with guests?
27:45 – Mentors
29:10 – Lessons that Simi has learned.
31:00 – The path of least resistance to catering.
