Laviyah - Roadmap to a Vegan Caterer
Updated: Aug 12, 2020
What do you do for a living?
I am a professional caterer. I'm also a grad student...learning is living and I love it.
What does a day at your job look like?
Well, right now I am a grad student in addition to working and being a mom, so a day with me looks a bit like this:
Rise at 5:15am and wake the kids
Leave the house at 6:30am
Drop off one child by 7am
Drop off the other child at 7:45 am (Grocery shopping in between if necessary)
Gym at 8am
Husband drops me off at co-working space around 9:30am
Several grueling hours of reading, homework, assignments and dealing with catering clients through email
12:00pm lunch
Several grueling hours of reading, homework, assignments and dealing with catering clients through email
3pm meet husband and pick up kids
If it is a Monday or a Wednesday, I have class in the evening
If I have a catering order that day, I don't head to co-working space because I gotta cook and deliver the order to my client.
If I have a huge event or a huge catering order, add shopping and food prep to my day.
What path did you take to get here?
Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering-->
Retired from Engineering-->
I started cooking for friends after my last tech job-->
They raved so much, my husband and I started a vegan food truck-->
I got too busy to run the food truck because of catering demands-->
Now, it's a fulltime catering and events food business
What are the challenges of your job?
1. I abhor food waste, which there is a lot of in this industry. We exercise methods to keep food waste to a minimum and we also donate food when we can.
2. As a student, I am just continuously hustling to keep up with deliverables and my reading and the papers I have to write.
What are the blessings of your job?
I tend to have really cool clients, so catering has been really good to me. My greatest compliments are from southern people who look like me. I had this one dude with the thickest Bama accent tell me that my cooking reminded him of down south. If a person tells me that my cooking tastes like home, it's a special kind of joy that has me fighting back tears.
What 3 characteristics do you have to possess or develop to do your job well?
Do what you say you are going to do. Be where you say you are going to be. If you can't be on time, be early.
What are 3 concrete things you’d tell someone on their journey to doing your job?
1. You really need to love cooking because this is more than a notion.
2. I'm also a grad student and mother of four, so you definitely have to learn how to balance everything that is going on with a strong support system.
3. Take time for rest. Rest is key.
@laviyah @stemartaen
