Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jill Santa Lucia. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jill, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Owning my own business and anyone that owns their own business is always taking a risk. If you build it, will they come? Will your customers love your product, will they love your staff, and will they return? Owning a food business is an even higher risk. You must keep safety of food as a top priority, you have had to be transparent about your food and the ingredients you are using to keep the public safe and informed about allergies and dietary restrictions. You must be mindful of legal risks when serving the public complying with health laws, employment laws, following your contracts with customers when you are dealing with large special events and things like weather, staff and other vendors are being relied upon to help make the event successful. {this is confusing to me, a run on} There is always a financial risk in owning a business; if your team doesn’t make the sales goals, the cost of doing business increases and if you haven’t had a chance to keep up with the increases you are risking it all. In the service industry reputation c is always at risk. Anytime you must rely on people to see your vision, goals, and mission of the company you are at risk.
I am 34 years into my business and the largest risk I have taken was to stay open and try to survive during the pandemic when the world shut down and our state did not allow us to operate. I made the decision to start making family meals, opened two ghost kitchens, and launched Ella’s popcorn to try to survive, keep my team employed and provide a service and product in our community and in the country. Ella’s popcorn was a huge risk, and it is now on HSN, and we have landed some large corporate gifting accounts. Our popcorn is sold in retail shops, on-line and as a signature item on the Catering Works menu. My sister is my business partner and we decided to go for it during the pandemic. We did not want to lose everything we had worked so hard for. We worried asking our staff to work was a risk to them . It was the strangest times, and we are still feeling the loss of staff that decided they could never return to hospitality because of the risk of not having a job or becoming exposed.
Taking the risk is paying off, has had its challenges and its triumphs. Never did I ever think I would be in an industry that was not able to operate or experience all time staffing shortages, resourcing issues and political discord that has trickled down into a new kind of employment market. This coincided at the same time we have had aging population, lower birth rates, advances in technology, and immigration restrictions.
Jill, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m Jill Santa Lucia, President, Culinary director & Popcorn Visionary at Catering Works, and Ella’s Popcorn. I started cooking and baking in high school and realized that my passion was going to become my life’s work. Catering is taking care of people and making memories for some the best days of their lives, weddings, recognition at work or accomplishments, religious celebrations bringing family, friends and co workers together. Cooking is my medium to create the right menu for the occasion. My company Catering Works is full-service caterer providing creative, delicious menus , libations, flowers, decor, and impeccable service. My role in the company is menu development, I am the culinary director and make sure my team of chef’s are staying on brand, budget and keeping up with the trends and what people want to eat and how they eat. I am proud of my team and how we are excited to help our customers get the right menu for the success of the event. We research global trends and traditions and are very inclusive to those with dietary allergies and restrictions. We have a company vision and mission that we abide to and want our team to love what they do. We pay a fair wage and charge a fair price to be profitable. We operate two restaurants in addition to handling all the special events at The North Carolina Museum of Art, We are proud to be a part of this partnership and love to see our community supporting this beautiful museum campus. Our company is recognized as one of the top caterers in North Carolina, we pride ourselves in taking care of our clients and go above and beyond to exceed their expectations. We are often called upon to make a lasting impression to help our clients be successful in their business by creating memorable lasting impressions that help build community relationships, business, and jobs. We are woman and veteran owned and our team is like family to us, we want our employees to be as happy as our clients. We don’t take anyone for granted and realize we are as good as our last event, everyday we start fresh, make it delicious, serve it with a smile and hope we are welcomed back to serve our customers again. We add in extra special touches to our service, floral blooms, signature popcorn, creative displays, and passion to all we do.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
My business partner is one I have known my entire life, my sister Lorin Laxton. If you had told me as a teenager growing up in my mid-twenties, she would become one of the best assets to our company I would have never believed it, I never ever thought we would work together, she was always on to a new adventure she went from Kent State university to the US Navy. Lorin was a nonconforming youth who surprised us all with enlisting. It was probably the best thing she ever did. She had a beautiful daughter in Japan and ended up moving to NC when her daughter was three. Lorin ended up helping me with some technology as I was using my faithful smith corona typewriter, typing proposals for clients in between baking, chopping, and dicing. She introduced me to a computer and took it a few million steps further and wrote a software program that integrated every step we do: recipe costing, inventory management, labor scheduling, proposals, contracts, menu cards, prep sheets, order sheets. The software is brilliant and sets us apart from our competitors for so many reasons. Lorin was always the smartest in the family. She truly is the brain of the business. She is not only tech savvy, but she also oversees the financial side of the business and is a brilliant marketer, creative genius and I can’t imagine anyone else as a partner. She is the brain of the business.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Managing people is very challenging at times and especially after the pandemic, mental health issues have risen, social changes have made people scared, un-kind and questioning everything. During the pandemic many of us pulled together to make it and encourage each other. The future felt unknown, and we had to keep it together, I was always positive and kept a cheerful countenance to keep my team encouraged, I had a few moments where I was not sure if I was going to make it. I had to motivate myself again and keep morale up. I spent a lot of times listening to people like Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, Zig Ziglar, retraining my brain that it was going to be ok. What I have learned is that we are all a spoke on a wheel that that make it turn.
In a business like mine, it takes a team to conquer and there is not a place for toxic energy, the pandemic on year two, I saw my team start to become anxious and overwhelmed with the roller coaster of highs and lows.
It made me revisit and regroup again and again to remind us of who we are.
I have always tried my best to be honest and make sure my team understands the goals and how they are a part of it, if its not working we revise a plan until it does. Everyone needs to be a part of a solution, a celebration, and a plan to move forward. Communication is always key. Weekly, monthly, or quarterly meetings are important, so the team sees the results and where improvement needs to happen. It is important to have the right team in the right seats and when they are not, find what they are good at. Rewarding your team for success and sharing client feedback is important for morale and overall company health. During the holidays when we are super busy, we stop once a week and give away all kinds of fun gifts to keep up morale, we celebrate and do team building as much as we can and we invest in training via local and national conferences, leadership groups, industry events and networking. If you treat people with kindness and invest in them, it comes back 10-fold. I am proud to say I have people on my staff who have been with us for 16-28 years. 
Contact Info:
- Website: cateringworks.com ellaspopcorn.com bloomworksnc.com ncmacafe.square.site
- Instagram: @ellaspopcorn @cateringworks
- Facebook: @ellaspopcorn @cateringworks
- Linkedin: @jillsantalucia @cateringworks @ellaspopcorn
- Youtube: @ellaspopcorn
Image Credits
Catering Works Hans Rosemond