We recently connected with Abi Schlesinger and have shared our conversation below.

Abi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I decided to start my business, Charcuterie Collective, when I was a junior in high school. I felt a strong pull to take on something that was bigger than me, and work hard it, to see if it had the potential to be able to succeed. So, at 16 years old I decided to start the business. I was instantly blown away by the support and love we received from the community, and that helped give me hope that this could truly work! I am so blessed to be able to look back now, almost three years later, and see how the business has grown and multiplied into something that I never would have imagined that we would be able to accomplish!

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.

Hi! Welcome to the Collective! My name is Abi & I am a 19 year old entrepreneur and student! I got into charcuterie almost 5 years ago when we were on a family vacation. My aunt had learned how to make charcuterie boards at a cooking class, and she decided to test out her skills on one of our yearly family vacations! She built a gorgeous spread on the coffee table of the beachhouse: meats, cheeses, nuts, pretzels, fruit. I was speechless. And I was determined to try it for myself. For me and my family, charcuterie has now become a very special tradition. We started out doing boards on family vacations to California and Tennessee, and now we do them almost every time we are all together! When all 11 of us all get to come together (which isn’t very often) we want to spend as much time together as we can. Charcuterie is a simple way to bring all of us together and is the perfect opportunity for all of us to sit around a table, and it leads to hours of some very sweet conversations.. Some of our best memories and conversations have happened around a charcuterie board. In 2019, I started experimenting with my own boards, and from the moment I began posting them on social media, I was flooded with messages of people asking me if I could make one for them! So here I am, almost three years later, with my own business, having the time of my life—and I’d love to help you have the time of your life, too. (Or at least the event of your life.) People (and not just kids) are spending more time online than they are face-to-face with other humans, and that doesn’t seem to be doing anyone any good. So I’m doing what I can to encourage people to be together again. My goal: let’s hang out in one another’s homes, stand around the kitchen island, enjoy yummy food, and reconnect because I don’t think we’re meant to do life alone. Charcuterie Collective is my way of bringing people together. We focused greatly on how impactful community is and how important it is to invest in your community. Our goal with building charcuterie boards is to help provide an outlet for you to connect with your people. There is something for everyone – whether your guests have dietary restrictions, like gluten allergies or are vegetarian, or they are just picky eaters, there is something that everyone can enjoy! We now also specialize in hosting and teaching online and in-person charcuterie classes – to help others feel comfortable and confident to host their own events, and build their own charcuterie boards! So now, we can bring something that has been so special for our family, into your family, no matter where you are located!

How did you build your audience on social media?

We have been so blessed to be able to connect with people all over the country through our social media platforms! Something that has always helped us is how we really focus on creating and distributing good, fun, and helpful content to all of our followers. We like to post various boards we have done in the past, collaborations, and other special opportunities we have. We also share tips regarding our boards that can help our customers, especially our online class customers, as they learn to build their own boards! By keeping your content relevant and engaging, you can receive a great response from your followers! Connecting and collaborating with other businesses that have a similar niche to you, as well as influencers also has a great capacity to grow and expand your audience! Ultimately, distributing content that is applicable to your followers and sticking with your branding and marketing in a consistent way will keep your followers engaged and active!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for us, because of the field we are in, is word of mouth references. I would say the majority of our new customers come from a previous client who was happy with their board and referred us to friends, family, and coworkers. It is so important to build and maintain strong relationships with your customers, even beyond their event, because maintaining that community has so many benefits and allows you to also build new connections! Stay active in engaging with your clients, and focus on building good relationships, so that you can continue to foster new ones as well!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://charcuteriecollective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charcuteriecollective/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charcuteriecollective
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/charcuteriecollective

Image Credits
@thegoodvibemedia