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

Betty, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I had always had a dream of being a caterer. Just imagine the joy of throwing parties, and all the happy faces of folks clinking glasses to toast getting together or a special occasion, the big smiles and their eyes lighting up when they take their first bite of your dish that you prepared just for their event, the beautiful lighting and music that help round out the details of a what is sure to be a perfect night. Yet I didn’t know how to get there. I didn’t study this choice of profession in school, I didn’t go to culinary school, none of that, and yet there was a deep desire in my soul to cook and throw parties for others. When I heard that another woman that I worked with when I was a waitress and California Pizza Kitchen years ago, had also wanted to start a catering company, I mustered up the nerve to ask her if I could do it with her. She said yes, it was the first time I’d even spoken to her, but she said yes. I took a risk and asked her, and she said yes. I very easily could have kept on dreaming about it and taken another direction in my life, but I took a deep breath, knowing she could have said, “uum…I don’t even know you”, but she said yes. That was in 1995 and up until 2 years ago, we built a beautiful business, restaurant, countless relationships with employees and clients and it changed to course of my life. All because that one day I decided to not be afraid to approach someone who was going to do what I wanted to do but didn’t know how. Because I decided to take a chance. This is what I’d like to talk to everyone about today.

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.

Another big risk I took was to say yes when Top Chef producers called me one afternoon. They actually we’re calling my little restaurant, Grub, to see if we could cater their film shoot when they were filming Season Two of Top Chef in Los Angeles. I happened to be in a playful mood that life changing Friday afternoon when the phone rang and the producer said, “Hi, I’m from Magical Elves and I want to know if you’d like to bring me some food!” Hmmm? “What do you mean?” I asked, “do you want me to bring you food to feed your cast and crew, or do you want me to be on your show?”….another big risk that paid off. Being on Season Two of Top Chef was a life changing experience in so many ways…the opportunities the exposure the fun!! Because I said yes. Asked the questions, took a deep breath and said yes. I may not have won that season but the exposure it brought to my restaurant, catering company and self opened so many doors, and paid off way more than the 100k purse that the winner of the season took home. I too can be one of those folks who say to ourselves, “oh, that’s not for me”, “they won’t want me”, “I’m not right for that”, but guess what…I was. I was just what they were looking for to round out their cast that season and by saying “yes”, it also changed the course of my life.

Now years later, I’m so glad I did.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Our charming little restaurant, that we ran for 20 YEARS, Grub was the heart and soul of our community. We fed so many wonderful people over those years, so many happy faces and satiated souls over the years. But, as we know, all good things must come to an end. We knew Grub had run it’s course, and everyone always wants to go and try the new and exciting places in town so we made the difficult decision to close Grub. It was a sad day, but a happy one too as all of our past customers came in that day. We were packed, and so many hugs and kisses to go along with our Crack Bacon…it was a sad day but it was time to pivot. Bye Grub, you are gone, but you will never be forgotten.

The pivot came right along with the pandemic. Dumb luck? Who knows but when the pandemic hit and our catering and restaurants were all put on hold throughout California we decided to down size and bring all of our businesses, restaurant and catering to one location. Where Grub was. We did a complete overhall, tirelessly painting, primping, redesigning menus, and marketing. That’s when Hollywood’s Hidden House was born. We transformed our charming little 1920’s comfort food restaurant into a gloriously beautiful and inviting event space for weddings, birthdays, meetings, filming and catering. We now throw spectacular, unique events for the wonderful people of Los Angeles in this very special space hidden in the heart of Hollywood, and it’s magical.

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

This one is basic and so old school….Word of Mouth. Even with today’s tech savvy environment and social media posts galore, our new client’s all come from Word of Mouth. Today’s word of mouth though can be from online reviews as well as from personal suggestions from friends and family I don’t know about you but I’m always looking at or asking friends for recommendations of companies to use, and they truly have the best advice. But now, even places like “Next Door” or local community feeds are where I find companies I reach out to. Small business budgets are just as small as the business most of the time, so after we do an event, we will reach out to our client to ask if they feel so inclined, it they wouldn’t mind leaving a review of our services on Google or another social platform…it’s the best, and you even sometimes blush from the kind words that they say from their heart. Google us, and read some of the most beautiful reviews…it’s truly heart warming.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hollywoodshiddenhouse.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefbettyfraser/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betty-f-2186285/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGn1euFyDxI

Image Credits
Ryan Tanaka