We recently connected with Jen Rodriguez and have shared our conversation below.

Jen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?

Her name was Nelia, and she recruited me for a writing position with DoD. We met at Union Station in DC, where I was an intern. We’d never met before that day, until a middle-aged lady with a floral scarf-like jacket and flowing pants circled the area three times, where I sat, searching for a young lady with a big afro that I didn’t have.

I finally looked in her direction.

She said, “Jen?”

“Nelia?” We both laughed, hugged each other, and spent the remainder of the day: eating lunch with a visit to the Crate and Barrel outlet. We talked very little about work or my qualifications, mostly about life and what we liked and didn’t. We had many things in common, such as antique shopping and food.

Months later, I got the position and eventually worked with her as the lead writer in two different departments. She was the only person I knew who could write a story from a single word or fire stats off on a moment’s notice.

Once during a commander out-brief, he asked for recruiting stats that caught her off guard. She paused briefly, looked over her notes, and started firing numbers.

I thought to myself, ‘where did she get that?’ as I fumbled through my notes. It was amazing to see such confidence in knowing the micro details.

Regrettably, our careers headed in different directions, but we kept in contact. Years later, I wrote a Purple Heart article, and another writer asked how I could write such a long story if I wasn’t there.

I replied, ‘you just need to know how to ask the right questions.’

That’s what Nelia taught me to dive deeper than the obvious, ask the right questions, and provide helpful answers. I always give more than what’s required. It’s in the details, and who you ask. Thanks, Nelia.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Halo, Guten Tag, Buenas, I’m Chef JRodi (Jen Rodriguez), the executive chef, founder, and owner of 3 small plates LLC. We are a contemporary tapas-style catering company specializing in culinary journeys from around the world, one plate at a time.

10 years ago, I created 3SP catering to introduce people to European travel through food. While serving in the Department of Defense (DoD) as an award-winning journalist, I was blessed to reside and work in Spain and Germany, along with extensive travel abroad, delving into many cultures and their food. From this grew the desire to share these European food experiences in Texas without requiring a suitcase or passport.

My love of cooking, entertaining, and chatting about food spilled over into changing our eating habits to healthier, portioned-controlled plates.

By introducing our community to different cultures through the world of food, we succeed in getting to know, understand and value each others’ cultures. Not merely by taste, but also by understanding their origin and purpose. We also change the dynamics of eating habits by creating healthier small plates beyond the norm and integrating different cultural spices, herbs, and seasonings, besides salt and pepper. There is a palette of fruits, veggies, starches, and proteins that most people overlook because they eat the same thing every day.

Our ultimate goal is to promote healthier diets, change how we eat, and think about food. We will start with our 3SP Bistro meal plans (coming January 2023) to help take the guesswork out of #whatz4lunch or #whatz4dinner, one plate at a time.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

‘I can’t be everything to everybody, and not all money is good money.’

In the beginning, I tried to be whatever someone wanted, but I soon learned that I was the one that was suffering. Because the requests were beyond reasonable, and the monies made barely covered the ingredients.

There’s a misconception that a caterer is someone who you can call at the last minute, and tell what you want and how much it should cost, even if it’s not their brand.

Not exactly…

Long ago, a client asked for pineapple teacakes with fruit pieces cut into a shape. I didn’t think it was a good idea because the fruit would jeopardize the consistency. I tried it anyway, despite my apprehensiveness. The cookies were a mess, hard as a rock. The cost of trial and error was far greater than the final cost of the cookies. In hindsight, I should have never taken on the task, but I was new in business, and income was income.

Now, I weigh the options: 1) Is it our brand? 2) Is it worth our time? 3) Is it added value to our menu? Any ‘no’ to any question says we’re not a good fit. Sorry.

Yes, I love a good challenge, but within reason. Think of it this way, if you’re looking for a southern-style barbecue menu with all the fixings, then we’re not the ones. However, if you’d like to try our Asian-inspired char-siu ribs, chicken, or pork with a pickled ribbon salad, then let’s talk.

Another time, a client kept asking for a service that I didn’t provide. I suppose they thought if they asked enough times, I would concede. I didn’t and declined.

Requests like these used to bum me out because I’d try everything to secure the bid, even if it meant I’d lose.

Then a colleague asked, ‘what was my time worth?’ It stumped me for a second until a light bulb went off. I was undercutting myself in so many ways.

Today when I receive these unique requests, I immediately send our Honeybook Questionnaire to learn more about the event. If a client answers the questionnaire, I know of their interest to work with me. If not, I know they’re not a good fit for 3SP, and wish them all the best.

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

3SP didn’t fold because of COVID challenges, but we looked at other ways and venues to serve others. We pivoted from events to baked goods to meals to art and farmer’s markets to events and meals. We remained flexible even though we were sinking most of the time. Incoming capital was some to nil, but we always remain positive that every new challenge and opportunity would produce a new form of growth.

We learned from our mistakes and re-accessed our schedules and routines to create new methods to garner speed in the kitchen. We expanded, renewed, and developed new relationships/partnerships; grew our network; welcomed meetings with audiences beyond our circle, and became more responsive to questions rather than overthinking. We gained more business confidence and took leaps even if we were afraid of the first step.

Every day is a reassessment to grow, improve, re-polish, tweak, and remold our products to meet the needs of our community. We’re constantly perfecting our products to be competitive in the food industry while honing our skills for specific client dietary needs, and outgoing costs while re-evaluating our workflow. Following each event, we conduct an after-action report: an analysis of lessons learned, best practices, and recommendations for future events.

We’re resilient but determined to serve others as we continue to grow 3 small plates catering.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.3smallplatescatering.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/chef_jrodi
• Facebook: facebook.com/3smallplates-catering.com
• Twitter: twitter.com/3smallplates
• Other: https://www.ldeiaustin.org/members1

Image Credits
Maggie Shannon
Gabe Rodriguez
Chef JRodi