We recently connected with Amber Henderson-Stevens and have shared our conversation below.

Amber, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I’ve always had a passion for food, especially being in the kitchen and preparing food for my loved ones. even as a child growing up and spending summers in my grandmother‘s kitchen, I didn’t want to be outside playing with my other cousins. I wanted to be in the kitchen with my grandmother watching her as she prepared, southern dishes and desserts specifically peach cobbler. I remember hiding underneath the table while she prepared the crust by hand, mixing the flour with cold water and softened butter and kneading kneading the dough until it was too her desired texture . and when she would finish and turn to place the pie the oven, I would sneak from underneath the table and grab a piece of dough and run to another room and eat it. That’s one things that I will always love and admire about her. She believed in preparing everything from scratch that piecrust was in still is a specialty that she makes for our family at different times throughout the year , that’s where my ambition comes from. That was where I found my love for food…..in my grandmother’s kitchen. as I became older, I would spend more time with my mom and grandmother in the kitchen as they prepare different meals I would take mental notes and watch them as they stirred the pot, a certain way, or as a sprinkled in different seasonings, without measuring, just knowing when enough was enough. As years went on I wanted to learn more, not only from washing my grandmother, but I developed a deeper ambition for food culture, especially African-American culture when my friends would come over I wanted to entertain them by cooking for them. till this day, we joke about how they were my first guinea pigs . When I became an adult, it was a innate feeling for me when I was in the kitchen. no matter what meal I prepared it was prepared with love I found myself researching different ways to enhance the dish with certain spices that werent normally used in our household when I was growing up, this quickly developed into me preparing food more often for family and friends whom would request dishes from me from time to time. it was exciting it was fun and it was definitely something that I enjoyed doing. I still enjoy doing it. each and every time I’m in the kitchen even if it’s something as simple as preparing a side dish, such as macaroni and cheese, which is one of my specialties. There is such a joy and Sense of calmness that comes over me when I’m preparing food for my loved ones, and also for my clients and the biggest reward is seeing the smile on their faces and hearing the rave reviews that they give me once they’ve eaten some thing that I’ve prepared in 2005 I was afforded the opportunity of being a life skills, special, education, teacher. The main duties of this job were to teach my students different life skills. Of course, one of the main life skills is cooking. It is during these years of teaching the students where I developed a deeper passion for preparing food for others on Fridays. The students were able to assist me in the kitchen and preparing a meal for their classmates. This was “science”for them. Of course, Friday was everyone’s favorite day because the students were always excited to be in the kitchen and be hands-on and also to be able to be creative and eat what they’ve created soon there were coworkers and colleagues who would ask or request for something that either myself or my students have prepared that day. This eventually turned into me pursuing a catering business. People begin to tell their friends and others about me and cuisine that I prepared and things pretty much took off from there. I found myself working as a teacher by day, and a caterer at night, and on the weekends.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Four years ago, I decided to take a leap of faith and resign from teaching to pursue my catering career full-time I found they’re trying to be a resilient teacher and successful caterer. At the same time was quite difficult, because both jobs were very demanding, although I absolutely enjoyed teaching. My passion was with my business and that was catering with exceptional customer service. I want my clients to be able to reach me at any time. I wanted to be able to connect with them at different times of the day if they needed me and unfortunately, while being a full-time teacher, I was unable to attain that goal. so in July 2018, I resigned from the Houston independent school district as a second grade teacher and decided to pursue my business full-time,. This was my proudest moment as an adult and although entrepreneurship can be a scary ride with lots of uncertainty we’ve since gained lots of popularity across the city of Houston and beyond. We are also a traveling catering company. we travel to anywhere in the United States and provide private chef services to our clients and their families and friends.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe my reputation was built on my desire to give people exactly what they want or better. I can’t describe the feeling that I feel when people give me compliments on my food. I’ve had people call me weeks and months later to thank me again for preparing such a delicious meal for them, so I strive for that to continue as my business flourishes and make it a point to be punctual when arriving to an event to ensure that the client is pleased with the food and if need be take constructive criticism if someone isn’t pleased

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Solidarity. I can tell anyone that should ask that the team that I have is solid and that continues to happen and people are able to see that at our events because we are one sound. We are in sync with each other. Everyone helps one another and if there’s something that’s needed, and one person is slacking or not able to give their absolute best. The rest of the team picks up the slack without any complaints. as the owner I try to continue to complement my staff on their hard work, and thank them continuously for being a part of our team. E gratitude is greatly appreciated

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.ambrosialcateringandevents.com
• Instagram: Ambrosial Catering and Events
• Facebook: Ambrosial Catering and Events