We recently connected with Tina Zawadzki and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
As with most things creative, I came up with the name of my company through a few iterations. It all started with a family weekend lunch where I started to relay a story about a commercial for a personal injury attorney. This attorney uses a common work tool in his nickname. As we were having a chuckle as a family, my daughter said ‘that’s it Mom, you’re the Texas whisk.” We laughed some more and I thought her moniker was pretty good. I kept thinking about the word “whisk” and that it has a dual meaning – a noun for a common cooking tool but also a verb – to move nimbly or quickly. As I thought about the value my business would bring to my clients, it would be to “whisk up” dinner so they could savor their time. It all came together like a lightning bolt and I’ve been proud of the brand and what we do since the start.
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
When I was in 4th grade, I wanted to be a Chef. This was in the mid-80s – there was no food culture, no Food Network, no food bloggers. There was PBS with a handful of cooking shows, women’s magazines with recipes and cookbooks. I loved food and found cooking to be fun. Without having a mentor in the food& hospitality industry to “show me the ropes”, I took a very traditional college & career path and attended Penn State University and graduated with BS in Accounting. I started my career at a prestigious public accounting firm, passed the CPA exam and enjoyed a successful leadership career at Verizon for 19 years. By the summer of 2018, I was ready for a change. My culinary passions intensified after I married and had my daughter. I would host dinner parties with 20-25 people “scratch making” everything challenging myself to make something even more impressive than the last time. In my free time when I wasn’t cooking, I was reading a cookbook or watching a cooking show. The time was right to take a leap of faith and bet on myself. I left Verizon, enrolled in El Centro’s cooking school (now Dallas College) and took the first step in my next chapter. I earned a Food & Hospitality Foundations Certificate at Dallas College’s Food & Hospitality Institute. About six weeks into my first semester, I applied for a job opening for a part-time Assistant Personal Chef for Designed Cuisine. I just had a good feeling about answering the ad and knew this was my time to explore culinary opportunities. Anne Blankenship, Personal Chef and owner of Designed Cuisine and I hit it off and I started to assist her on her client cook dates. Anne took me under her wing and taught me the ins and outs of personal chef business. She continues to be my mentor and fierce supporter. In January 2020, I officially started The Dinner Whisk, A Personal Chef Service and have not looked back.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Prior to going to cooking school and starting The Dinner Whisk, I started a cottage bakery business specializing in Christmas cookies. The business was called Tinsel & Sugar and I created Christmas cookie gifts that were great gifts for teachers, office mates, grab bag, etc. I did market research, led a focus group with some girl friends in my target market, created a website, filed a DBA and established payment processes. I even sold these cookie gifts at a local high school craft market, which allowed me to interact live with potential customers. While my corporate business experience was invaluable, Tinsel & Sugar gave me the opportunity to establish all of the business functions on a tiny scale and gave me the learnings necessary to set up The Dinner Whisk. Today, I don’t run Tinsel & Sugar because all of my energy is focused on The Dinner Whisk but my clients always enjoy Christmas cookies every December:)
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source of new clients for me are my existing clients. There is nothing better than a testimonial from one of your regular clients to their network. My existing clients can give their network how the service works, what they love about it, and their favorite dishes. I’ve been fortunate to have clients who are more than happy to refer my service to their friends and family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thedinnerwhisk.com/
- Instagram: #thedinnerwhisk
- Facebook: @thedinnerwhisk