Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Desiree Harling. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Desiree, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
We met through our husbands. We immediately bonded over our love of food and events. We began working together for a major cooperation running the catering department at a large university. We decided with our combined front of house and back of house expertise, we could venture out on our own. Owning our own business would allow us more freedom and flexibility to do what we love. While we did our best to make each event as special as possible, working under a cooperation limits the ability to personalized the experience for the client. At the time, we had a 3 partner. LaToya is a chef and planner, I’m a culinarian and planner and the third member was into planning and event design. We thought it would work perfectly because we all had a vision to one day have one-stop venue. We could take care of our clients needs all in one meeting and location. While we no longer have the 3rd member, it is still our long term goal to make the event experience seamless and stress free for all our guests.
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.
Desiree:
I’ve worked in food since 15. However, my love for food and events started my job as a catering server in college. I fell in love with events. And then the level of food I was able to see blew my young mind. My favorite place to eat then was Outback (I do still like it;). But at part time job opened up my mind. From there it was my goal to be the best I could be in the food and beverage industry. I quickly moved to a supervisor role and after moving back home I accepted a position as the catering coordinator with the same company but at another university. This allowed me a side of the events I hadn’t been a part of. I was able to use my hands on experience to better assist clients in their booking process. My goal from there was to become a manager in 2 years; I achieved that goal. In addition, I prided myself in staff retention. I love developing people and encouraging their growth. My next goal was to be Director of Catering in 2 years. That took 3 years but it was achieved:) In that role I increased sales by 15%. After the company lost that contract, I decided to partner with LaToya Greene. Unfortunately fear took over and I backed out of our arrangement. Without a full time consistent job, how as I going to take care of my family. That mindset eventually led me to my highest paying position with my former employer. Which, ended up changing my life. This was smack in the middle of COVID. I was overworked, understaffed and unsupported by upper management. I prayed a lot! I received my sign and quit; it’s the only job I ever quite. My sister told me ‘you’re supposed to be running your business with LaToya’ And so that’s how I joined back with Catered Dreams. In making the decision, I’m the happiest I’ve been in long time.
My favorite thing about catering and event planning is putting smiles on our guests faces. The customer service aspect is my favorite part. I love building relationships with my clients and truly getting to know them. I enjoy being there to help them work through any issues and bring their visions to life. I love being able to talk with them and learn their likes and dislikes and create a menu based on their theme and personality. I want my potential clients to know that I am their partner and friend. I’m here to do anything within my power to make the event process easier. Even if Catered Dreams is only providing the catering, if we notice a complication in another area, we happily jump in to help out.
Any advice for managing a team?
After trial and error over many years, I’ve learned you have to be honest and compassionate with your team.
Listening intently. Everybody has a voice and wants to be heard. Whether you do what they say or not, people appreciate your genuine interest in their thoughts.
Realizing that all people are not the same. You have to communicate with different people in different ways. Some people receive information best bluntly. While some need a little more tenderness. I had to learn that the hard way but I’m glad I did.
Care about them. Truly care about your people. If they are ill, don’t make them feel bad because you’re down a person. Put yourselves in their shoes.
Invest in your people. Take the time to properly train them. Then continue to teach them new things. If they decide they want to move on because of your tutelage, encourage them.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
In my opinion, old fashioned word of mouth. Technology is king an it is vital to the growth of a business but for our industry, you need clients to brag about your services to other people. While we can post pictures and content all day online, someone attending or hosting an event expressing how pleased they were with Catered Dreams is what works the best for us. Just because I see a photo of some yummy looking food, doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to spend my hard earned money on it. Especially not a caterer. It’s not like a restaurant. So we need the word of mouth.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Photographer for Headshots: Malinda Guillory-Searles Wedding Couple: Holden and Erin Parker Food Images: Catered Dreams lol