We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Julia Bourque. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Julia below.

Julia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?

My followers and friends know my motto is this: it’s better to make a friend than to make a sale.

This is an extremely hard concept to get when… you NEED to be making money! But that’s just it, when you focus on the making money aspect of your business you loose out on the connection. Chances are you need that connection to make a sale.

The times when I am way to fixed on selling a certain product or service is when I loose big time. My focus shifts to overthinking and worrying about something I can’t control! When I focus on serving my customer I make a sale!

Julia, 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?

The Orange Table is a charcuterie board company serving events in Austin, Texas. But all around the world, we partner with brands to increase their reach on social media platforms by improving visibility and sales. We offer digital resources to over 3 million people all around the world. We are passionate about inspiring and connecting with our 51 thousand followers across all social media platforms. Our biggest asset is our website where anyone can book us for their event, access hosting tips and tricks, shopping lists and our “how to build your own charcuterie business course”.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Would you believe me if I told you I almost failed out of my high school. I eventually graduated but not after many times at summer school and even getting expelled… ok that’s a story for another time but here is the point: if you’re waiting to start until you get it all together, you will never start. I’ll explain…

SO many people ask me “how did you get started?” and to be honest, I just started. Yes, that’s right my message to you is: just start. The truth is you will NOT have it all figured out before you start. But you will never do it if you just don’t start. Starting allows you to try and fail. You must take the perfectionism mindset off when starting something new. Running a business isn’t a special talent or something your born with. Nobody is disqualified because it’s a learned skill, just as playing piano or learning a new hobby is.

You may have certain creative inclinations, but many skills you see here from my business are learned not natural. Remember when I said I almost failed out of high school? I wasn’t naturally born with the desire to study or learn: it actually took caring about something for me to succeed.

First step: decide what you care about. Ask questions. Begin when you don’t have it all figured out.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I was faced with the possibility of moving my business location to another state, fear struck me. I wondered if my husband had a sudden change of jobs would my career in catering be over?

I decided to start selling courses and selling digital products online to reach people no matter where my business moves! Having different ways to connect with people is so important me, so we had to pivot quickly and we will continue doing so!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.orangetableco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orangetableco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theorangetableco
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-orange-table/?viewAsMember=true

Image Credits
Me