Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to John & Natasha Ford. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

John & Natasha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Our Story is so powerful and quite unique. You see, I will write this from the perspective of being in business with my husband. Together, my husband and I have launched a very successful catering company – Fluent N’ Food Catering and Wedding Venue – Chandelier Event Venue in Cary, NC.

My husband worked in restaurants as an Executive Chef – the restaurant industry is very tough and quite backbreaking – so I encouraged him and I to start a catering company. He was a talented Executive Chef who won many awards and was pretty known in his industry, and I knew Customer Service and Marketing like the back of my hand.

Together our work ethic and never give up attitude led us to where we are today. We also worked very hard and always had the best attitudes, even if people were ugly to us, we stood up for ourselves but we were always respectful and always went above and beyond for every client. Trust me when I say, I felt like giving up a lot. Especially when we opened up – for we opened up in October of 2019 – right before the Pandemic.

However, we made it through and are back and better than ever. Being in partnership with my husband is beautiful and absolutely fulfilling. Together we can conquer the world.

John & Natasha, 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?

Chef John and I have decades of experience in the restaurant & hospitality industry. We both took our talents and skill sets and brought them to our business. I also have a background in marketing, pr & communications. We both have very strong backgrounds in our fields. I think what brought us to the next level is our work ethic.

We never complained about the number of hours we worked or our quality of life. However, both are very important – but in the beginning, everyone must put in their time. Keeping your attitude positive at all times and working hard, showing up on time every time, and just being a good worker overall really is what catapulted us. Of course, we brought our creativity to our work – we never got lazy with what we did. We always tried to be better than before.

Two Type A personalities proved to be quite successful for us!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Running a brand new wedding venue during COVID was One of the most difficult journeys of my entire life. In the beginning, I thought we were going to lose everything, but mini miracles kept happening that got us through the month.

We lived day by day for 1.5 years while COVID was still very much present in everyone’s lives. We kept the faith, kept the fight, and miraculously by the grace of God made it through.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my husband John Ford in 2014. Who would have thought a cup of coffee would lead to a partnership and a thriving business? Never stop believing in love – anything is possible!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chandeliereventvenue.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chandeliereventvenue/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChandelierEventVenue

Image Credits
Brian Anthony Photography