Before I started my business, my livelihood had always depended on someone else. I worked in the corporate world and had been laid off a few times, either due to a company acquisition or the company going under. Eventually I just said to myself, “I’ve had it with this.” Food had been a passion of mine for many years. I wanted to make money doing that instead. I started Good Fork Catering Company on Thumbtack in 2014.
I had some savings. Enough for six months. Well, it took me eight months to get my first gig. But I stuck with it, because the way I saw it, it was a numbers game. The more you put in, the more you get out. It was a big risk, but it was just something that I needed to do. I just kept answering inquiries for personal chef or catering services.
I don’t know where my confidence to start a business came from. I don’t feel that confident in other areas of my life. Maybe it’s because I really wanted this to work. You could call cooking my “calling,” but for me it’s a love. It’s something I’m in love with. And I thought, “If Martha Stewart can do this, and Ina Garten can do this, I can do it too!” That was another thing that kept me going. I wasn’t reinventing the wheel or anything. I was doing something that lots of people do. And there’s a need for it.
When I finally got my first job, it was for a young lady who hosted a dinner for her boyfriend. Honestly, I don’t know how I got the job. Maybe she liked me when we spoke on the phone. The job went well and she was very eager to give me money. I remember feeling awkward about it. I thought, “Oh my god, am I allowed to take her money?” But then I reminded myself that this is business. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. This is how this thing works.
So from there I kept sticking with my goals. It took me some time to figure out how to keep it up. But now I’m a Top Pro on Thumbtack. So it was hard. It was scary. But also empowering. And if I could go back in time to give myself advice, it would be: “Do everything exactly the same.”
