We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chuck Cleveland . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chuck below.

Chuck, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Well speaking from personal experience I can say that it takes hard work, dedication, a lot of disappointment, a lot of no’s, talent, preparation and a he’ll of a lot of sleepless nights.

Chuck, 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?

Well I’m Chef Chuck, a traveling personal Chef & caterer located in Georgia. My black owned business specializes in wedding catering, cooking lessons, personal Chef services, date night dinners and a fee other services. Bluechip Catering & Events specializes in many different cusines from carribean to Latin, bbq, Italian and many more. I pride myself on being as creative as I possibly can which makes me stand out from other caterers, dishes that you may have seen but with a twist and some you may have never seen is what I do. Another thing that makes me different as a caterer is I don’t just sell food, I sell an experience. When a customer calls and inquires about service, they sometimes have problems that most caterers would consider not to be their problem but I don’t see it that way. I make it my job to give that potential client the best experience possible by not only providing great service and food but solving a problem that may help ease their tension such as assisting with finding a venue or which is easy because I’ve worked at so many, or finding the perfect air bnb for a Bachelorette party or date night. This thing I do is not all about money, it’s passion, it’s a calling, it’s me. What people should know about me is I’m coming with 110% even when I’m tired. Im.also upfront with my customers, if a bride decides she wants to be difficult throughout the process I tell the bride and groom to be upfront that I will refund you because this thing I do isn’t all about money and no dollar amount is worth a headache or my peace. For the most part all of my customers appreciate that and understand my view. The thing that I’m most proud of is that I didn’t give up even when I felt I wanted to. I’m proud that I’ve built something that I love, something my kids and one day a family can remember me by and have when I’m no longer here because that’s what it’s all about, I will say being an entrepreneur is no cake walk and can be volatile. One week you can make 10 grand and the next nothing at all. Another week a thousand and the next no calls, no service requests or any movement. Figuring out a way to keep people wanting what you offer and keeping them interested is the name of the game and I do that by being as creative as I can which you can’t teach. Either it’s in you or it’s not.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

This is an easy one, the fist thing that helped was me doing meal prep for Elle Varner. One day she posted a healthy drink that was given to her along with her meals that was made by my then long time girlfriend Jennifer. Once that hit I began to get 100’s of new followers that day and by end of day it was around 300 new people following. I was excited and couldn’t believe it. From that point it became a priority to perfect my craft and put out the best products possible to be seen, tasted and talked about.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy has been providing things that taste different from most restaurants or caterers. The creativity in a picture of a dish no one has ever seen or heard of makes one wonder and then the wonder of how does it taste which then makes someone say I wonder what weird creativeness he’s going to come up with next.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Bluechip_catering
• Facebook: Bluechip Catering & Events
• Youtube: Chef Chucks Channel

Image Credits
Diane Turner