Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Antonio Tate. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Antonio thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, folks often look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight – but that often obscures all the nitty, gritty details of everything that went into the growth phase of your business. We’d love to hear about your scaling story and how you scaled up?

This is a wonderful question, and one of the most challenging tasks to attack and conquor as a business owner. My “Scale Up” started years ago, with past companies, experiences, opportunities to steward other’s dreams, receive foundational coaching, training, and simply sowing into my future.

At 13, my late father began his dream to begin his first restaurant, Gumbo To Go, a cajun creole fast casual restaurant serving a plethora of southern items such as Gumbo, Jambalaya, Po Boys, Red Beans & Rice, Pecan Pie, and other N’ Orleans favs. Here, I learned to open a restaurant myself, the importance of servanthood, gave me deep roots in rich cuisine, depth of flavor and developing my palette at a very young age.

Zooming ahead 15 plus years, my largest leap in learning was with the Golden Arches in Charlotte, NC, and built a strong foundation in me of leadership, serving others, being efficient, and becoming a good communicator. This built me the necessary platform to get my footing in leadership in the hospitality industry. Their training and development was second to none, and I soaked it up like a sponge, but, it took a kick in the butt to apply this learned skillset to my own business, years later, from the wisdom of my father…more about that later.

As I transitioned from Ronald and the gang, I moved to Chattanooga, TN, after marrying my lovely wife, life and business partner, Onteaya, I could no longer serve Happy Meals with the corporate structure, because there was only franchises in Chattanooga, so I searched to find a change. Moving to Tennessee, mainly to serve at my Wife’s Uncles Church, I learned the importance of Servanthood. Servanthood has to be caught, not taught, and streams through your veins like a punch of adrenaline to move the world to a better place. It’s my modus operandi, my Why, what a preach and teach, to everyone I come across. In our church I found ways to serve others, through greeting and quickly taking advantage of serving Wednesday Meals to the congregation, not being paid, but growing exponentially in preparing food for larger groups, the importance of batch cooking, rewarming and learning not to run out. This was pivotal in my growth, and if I could do this free and love it, I knew I would be able to do it and get paid, it was only matter of time.

6 years went by, transition set in, and we, Onteaya and I, went on to serve at another ministry in Chattanooga, much larger than the last, yet my heart didnt change for people. I still had a heart for people, but now had a full kitchen at my disposal, an opportunity to serve special guests, with the likes of TD. Jakes, Maverick City Music, Benny Hinn, and many many more! With this new position I had the opportunity to cut my teeth in serving thousands for conferences, jump starting a school lunch program and with my wife, starting a brand new coffee shop!

With this new opportunity, Onteaya and I began our journey of beginning Party Bites Catering. We had the talent, a groomed team around us, and a full kitchen that our church allowed us to launch from. After 4 years of growth and many opportunities to experience growth, we realized that we could truly make a living doing this, and leave a legacy for our children….so we launched! We decided to take the next steps to find our own space, that encompassed our love for delicious food, host our own events, and grow into the company we wanted to be.

Antonio, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Antonio Tate, a Chef, Father, Husband, and Serial Entrepreneur. Along with my wife, Onteaya, we have built several businesses together and we are not done yet. We are beginning the Grow Wild Hospitality Group which includes Party Bites Kitchen & Catering, The Green Bean Coffee Co. and Plant Candy Collective, both of Onteaya’s Visions and Businesses, along with our newest baby, Cha Cha Masala Chai; an amazing Chai Super Concentrate that is not only amazing in Lattes with your favorite Milk Choice, but is delicious in savory foods such as wing sauces, cocktails, breakfast syrups, desserts, and much much more! We have aspirations to create a network for current and future entrepreneurs to grow their own businesses, share best practices and embrace our struggles as business owners; so that dream is coming alive soon!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think what was pivotal in building my reputation is my desire and passion to build and sow into others with my time, energy and resources. Whenever I come across someone that is taking this road down ownership, I love the opportunity to assist where needed, give of my time and support. Lastly, what has built my reputation is to not burn bridges. So many people that were in my past have came back around full circle to offer me opportunities, speak life inton my businesses and share resources with me, and for that I am thankful and blessed!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy for us is having a strong, transparent website, and once you are on stage and lights are on, at an event, speaking to a guest, or facilitating a tasting with a potential client, we give that WOW Service! We anticipate guest needs, go above and beyond, and pair that with passionate, delicious cuisine, making us a must-have! Our website is very user friendly, eye catching, gives all of our prices up front, and uses only our own photos. This makes our website very searchable, a 4.9 Rating on Google, and helps spread free word of mouth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.partybitescatering.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/partybitescha/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partybitescha
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbzcEwQm8zyNMamiYGHA_Fg
• Other: www.sipmorechai.com www.plantcandycollective.com www.thegreenbeancoffeeco.com

Image Credits
Nelya Grace Photography