We were lucky to catch up with Candice Hudnall recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Candice, thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The mission for Hamby Catering is “Creating Life’s Memories Over Shared Meals.” 

Team Hamby is truly woven into the fabric of life’s most memorable events, on both ends of the celebration spectrum – happy, sad and everything in between. Connection with people happens organically when you break bread together, and Hamby Catering provides the medium to create that connection via delicious food, carefully crafted by our culinary team.  

Hamby is there for births, deaths, marriages, anniversaries, divorces, new babies, birthdays, retirements, housewarming parties, fundraisers, board meetings and all the “just because” celebrations. This is meaningful for Hamby Catering as an organization because these life events warrant memorable food that can transport you back to the exact moments you shared the meal with friends, family, coworkers or new acquaintances.  

Our clients have the option of hiring us to handle the culinary and service turnkey with very little lift on their end, or they can keep it simple and streamlined by picking up ready-made meals or entertaining options from our retail location, The Market at Hamby.  

I am most proud of our team’s commitment to being addicted to growth. We weave our company values of Family, Respect, Service, Integrity, Growth, Teamwork and Heritage into our daily operations, trying to make things a little better every day. What sets us apart from others is our dedication to creating relationships with our clients, vendors and our internal team that fosters trust and allows us all to have fun bringing life’s most memorable events to life. 

Candice, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do? 

I hold an undergraduate degree in Communications from Clemson University, a master’s in Business Administration from The Citadel and have more than 20 years of experience in the marketing, public relations, advertising and events industries.  Since joining the Hamby Catering & Events team in early 2011, I’ve been responsible for rebranding the Charleston culinary institution, recruiting and building a dynamic team, resourcing new avenues of revenue and developing lasting relationships with clients and organizations. 

While I was initially brought on to consult in marketing, I quickly moved into the position of Marketing and Sales Manager before transitioning into Hamby’s Managing Director. In 2017, I stepped into the role of President for the company and became the majority owner of Hamby Catering. My duties include handling all aspects of operations, sales, marketing and business development. 

Dedicated to Hamby’s family-oriented reputation and treasured values, I brought my father Wayne Culbertson on as COO. We now serve as the second set of multi-generational family owners for the company. 

Prior to moving to Charleston, I worked in the Office of Presidential Advance at The White House in Washington, D.C. and then spent five years at The Hughes Agency, a full-service marketing, public relations, advertising and events agency in Greenville, SC. Having lived abroad in Northern Ireland, England, France and Australia, I feel I bring an international perspective to Hamby’s business operations as well. 

About Hamby Catering & Events

Hamby Catering is Charleston’s oldest locally owned and operated catering company in Charleston, South Carolina. It is female-founded, female-owned and is celebrating its 45th year in business this year. Hamby is a full-service catering organization and provides food for events ranging from an intimate chef dinner for 10 to a multi-day festival or event for 10,000 plus people. The Market at Hamby is the retail extension of the catering outfit. Its brick-and-mortar location provides pre-order and grab-n-go specialty goods that range from meals to go, easy entertaining solutions, specialty wine selections and other local goodies. Hamby prides itself on its ability to serve its clients for all their catering needs, whether the lift be light or full service.  

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Being the owner of a catering and events business focused on group gatherings warranted the necessity for a very quick and drastic pivot when Covid-19 hit. Within 48 hours, we went from a team of 150 to 15, and we also witnessed millions of dollars of revenue evaporate into delayed or cancelled business. It was a time of great uncertainty and fear for everyone.  

As a business owner, it would have been much easier to shutter, accept assistance from the government and wait until things got better. But, my business partner and I spoke everyday about the importance of keeping people fed by providing home cooked meals that could be purchased in an open air environment via the Hamby Mobile Market, keeping a skeleton team employed/working and raising funds for front line workers (notably local physicians and nurses) through a local grassroots nonprofit organization that provided ready to eat meals to those fighting Covid-19 on the front line. For Hamby Catering, remaining open, albeit very difficult, was the right decision for our team. Collectively, we were working 6+ days a week, but we felt that we were fulfilling a purpose and answering a higher calling during a time of turmoil.  

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business partner is my father. He spent 42 years with Michelin, and he was in his final post in the United Kingdom, readying for retirement within the year. At that point, I had been part of the Hamby Catering family for about 5 years, growing steadily into a bigger, more expansive leadership role through the years. I knew the good, bad and in between about Hamby Catering, and the previous owner (part of the founding Hamby family) presented me with the opportunity to officially buy the company.  

I called Dad and asked if he was sitting down, because I had a big question to ask him; did he want to buy a catering company with his favorite daughter (and only child)? It took us about a year of due diligence, but the purchase became official in October 2017.  

My dad has always been a bit of a guiding star for me in life, and it has been one of my life’s greatest honors to work alongside, learning from my dad. He has infused a corporate perspective and many corporate best practices into Hamby, which has given us an edge that other small businesses don’t organically have. We certainly disagree (often), but at the end of the day, family comes first, and I can’t imagine having chosen a better business partner than my father, Wayne Culbertson.  

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hambycatering.com
• Instagram: @hambycatering
• Facebook: @hambycatering
• Linkedin: @hambycatering
• Twitter: NA
• Youtube: NA
• Yelp: NA
• Soundcloud: NA

Image Credits

Aleece Sophia Photography