We were lucky to catch up with Jessi Moreno recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessi , appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission at Pavi’s Creations is focused on sustainability through using locally, and ethically sourcing ingredients to create and encourage shared experiences through food. The story behind the mission and why it’s meaningful for me is deeply rooted in the origins of my family. It’s a mission that has grown from personal experiences. When I think back to my earliest memories of food when I was a little girl, I remember waking up early when I would visit Mexico, staying with my grandparents. My grandpa would wake us up at 6 am to help him milk his cows on his dairy farm. Then we would come home and help my grandma make cheese for our family and community. It was natural to gravitate towards connecting and bonding through the cultivation of food. I’ve always felt there is something sacred about sharing with others the things we create with our own hands, this is a labor of love and that is something I want to share and hope to create a positive experience. I wanted to be able to serve others through food and I am able to do so with Pavi’s.

Growing up my dad and mom as well as my grandparents have taught me to understand the respect, dedication, and hard work that goes towards the process of how food is made, but more importantly, the hands that cultivate it. My grandparents were farmers and cheesemakers. They sold their cheese to the towns nearby back in Mexico. Their hard work is my earliest definition of entrepreneurship and has taught me to appreciate the work it takes to grow something and I’ve realized how drawn I was to it. My grandparents and parents were farmers when they first came to this country. I named my business after my mom to honor her sacrifices and hard work in some ways. Since I started Pavi’s I have been thinking of how I could continue to support farmers. I believe that shopping locally throughout the years supports farmers and I’ve been able to get to know local farmers on a personal level and connect beyond the surface. Something that really is important to me is to learn about more opportunities about how to give back. I hope to be so successful to be able to give back on a much larger scale.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I knew that I wanted to be involved with food which had influenced me to pursue my education in culinary school and become a Chef. I had the opportunity after culinary school to work at many restaurants and eventually became an Executive Chef at an event center. There I had the freedom to create menus and control where I sourced our product. I wanted to create elevated food and support local farmers, and was able to while showcasing my recipes. Working long hours in the food industry, I was rarely home so my go- to- meal, my girl dinner, were cheese boards. So while I worked at the event center, I created my first grazing tables on a professional level. I was also introduced to more foods in my travels to different places and experiences while working in different restaurants. I’ve backed-packed through South America for a month with some of my foodie friends to experience and learn different cuisines and cultures. Some of my travels included visiting Europe for the first time in my early twenties, specifically Spain, France, England and I’ve returned many times over the decade for more cheese knowledge. It has slowly shaped my palette and shaped who I am and how I see food. I was able to experience cheese in a different way and explore pairing. Each country has their own experience, and while this was travel prior to Pavi’s it really influenced the formation of Pavi’s. I learned how to pair cheeses and charcuterie with other local ingredients over the years and the importance of intention and working on my craft. There is an intention behind the pairing and placement of our boards and grazing tables. Prior to the pandemic I was putting out to the universe that I was very interested in becoming a full time cheesemonger and wanted to fully immerse myself into the industry. Although I was a full time chef, I decided to start a side hustle which was to create the cheese boards for my clients. I had a few clients on my days off and in between a few shifts. It became bigger than I realized and I started to expand the products and services for my clients. This came at the right time when COVID-19 and the Pandemic shut down the world. I lost my job but due to my side-hustle, I was able to expand my small-business into what it is today. Despite the darkness surrounding the Pandemic and the lives lost, both personally and globally, I am grateful that I had Pavi’s to propel me forward.

The current services and products that we provide range from personal cheese and charcuterie boards to private grazing events from corporate to more intimate parties. We offer our clients the flexibility of working together to create their grazing experiences from premium grazings; which include set-up and rental of our hand selected grazing equipment as well as our corporate micro-grazes; our ready to go boards, styled in a minimal yet chic way, using local foliage and florals as accents creating a natural and beautiful abundant spread. We also offer workshops and classes where we teach cheese pairings and how to create your own boards. Additionally, we offer merchandise like wood boards and curated gift baskets for holiday seasons. We focus on pairings and creating boards with the most abundant seasonal produce. Some examples would be California nuts and domestic cheeses as well as farmer’s market crudités and local produce.

We really try to focus on the product and create beautiful and bountiful boards and spreads that could be a conversational piece for a client’s special events. We tend to solve and answer the clients wants and needs of preparation, the execution, and clean up for our grazing tables. On the other hand, if our clients want more flexibility or need a smaller graze, we offer the ease and convenience of ready to go micro-grazing experiences. We try to make sure to offer custom menus for our clients, since I have a culinary background our focus is to provide a unique and authentic food service. I also think my perspective as a trained chef provides value for our clients in co-creating their vision. Ultimately, my life journey, my years in the food industry and technical background influences the values in my business, valuing creativity and food integrity.

Despite what you think and what direction you believe you’re going through in life, you never know where life will lead to. I thought I would always be a chef running my kitchen or opening up my own restaurant. As life went on, it took me back to my roots. It was a full circle moment working with cheeses and the history of family farming and cheesemaking. I am proud of the progress Pavi’s has made. I have been able to showcase what I have to offer as a latina who came from a lower income community. I’m also proud of the steps I’ve taken to empower my community, by choosing locally and empowering my team at Pavi’s as a woman run business. I didn’t have business owners or mentors in the process of becoming a business owner to show me the ropes but I am proud of how I have handled overcoming challenges and creating opportunities. I didn’t grow up with financial resources to start or grow my business but I do have two loving supportive parents that have taught me to embrace the unknown and turn my feelings of being the only person in the room that looks like me throughout moments in my life and being confident in myself so I am forever grateful for their love and support. I was able to make Pavi’s with my skills and knowledge and a lot of hard work. I’ve learned anything is truly possible with consistency. I’m proud of the environment my team and I created where we uplift and motivate each other and have grown professionally and personally.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was burnout and how to not overanalyze my work. I’ve faced burnout before and realized that it’s not a sustainable way of living. As a chef, our work is very personal. It’s the way we express ourselves so it’s hard at times to separate our inner value from the value of our artistry. I wanted to try and become the best chef I can be but would overcompensate with working as many hours as I could to focus on honing my craft. I was very critical of myself in the early stages of working in the industry. Maybe part of it is my virgo rising because I am so critical and meticulous about my work that I forgot to focus on the little wins of becoming better with time. As years went on developing Pavi’s, I’ve learned how to create a balance between self criticism with self acceptance and celebrating each little win. Focusing on the present moments has helped me in learning to find a work life balance especially as a small business owner. I remind myself why I do this and the journey that comes with owning a business. There are ups and downs and ebbs and flows but remembering the reasons why I do this is how I learned to trust the process.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for Pavis’ Creations would be word of mouth. There is a first hand account of the clients’ experience that refers their friends to us. It leaves out the question of credibility because it comes from a source that they trust. Another great way would also be exposure in terms of their experience prior to becoming a client. For example, a potential client may have received a box or attended an event or gathering that carries our products and service. We also have secondary ways through social media and google. Instagram is the first platform I shared my work on as Pavis’ Creations and watched it grow. We tend to have potential clients reach out and say they saw my work on social media and try it and have liked it. While both avenues work as a source for new clients the biggest percentage that brings in new clients is word of mouth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.paviscreations.com
• Instagram: pavis_creations

Image Credits
Stacey Doyle Photography https://staceydoyle.com Kelsey Owen Creative Studio https://kelseyowencreative.com