We recently connected with KaTisha Smittick and have shared our conversation below.
Hi KaTisha, thanks for joining us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?
For our Social Media there are a few staff members along with myself who runs the page,
It initially started out with me doing all of the content even down to taking my own photos and shooting my own videos as well.
Now I’m able to hand that down to the staff, Im very much so hands on with our social media, Im still creating all of the content and just sending over the content to the staff to be posted,
I allow them to create from that point forward, i.e. ( captions, reels, comments, repost )
Sometimes they will even comment funny things on my personal page which I never know whose online that day so it keeps a real mystery.
KaTisha, 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?
KaTisha J. Smittick a dmv native, a retired Staff Sergeant US Army soldier of 11 years.
I work as a personal Chef, and the owner of Mentals Meals. I am also freelance photographer, the owner of Mental Mayhem Photography, in the Washington DC area.
After I retired from the military (Army) I graduated from Central Texas College with a degree in general studies, later to go onto The Art Institute of Virginia to earn a degree in Photographic Imaging. Then later attend Stratford University completing a Culinary Degree with honors.
I got into the industry because I was simply invested in the idea of being a amazing chef but an even better humanitarian. As a child I was raised to go out and feed those who were not as fortunate as I was. That stuck with me so that was the basis of me wanting to make a business so that I could make the best impact.
I believe that my Army values and the morals that were installed in me played a major role in why my work ethic is unmatched and I take care of my clients as if it was my own family.
In my line of work most of the clients may or may not know exactly what they want but our staff is very helpful with curating a menu for just you. We also offer packages in order to help the client benefit from the full experience.
I believe what sets us apart from most is that we are like family with our clients, we’ve been through major moments with them in life. We also are mostly recommended by prior clients. Majority of our clientele are welcomed to the family that way.
We pride in making your event the best it can be, even if we have to open our entrepreneur address book for you as well.
We are looking to build a long lasting relationship with you.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
The most effective practice for us to grow was to be very present in our community. We are always apart a outreach program or supporting one of our partners in the fight against homelessness.
Being in the community allowed us to be able to get our name out and to partner up with radio stations, small businesses, non profits and corporations.
We have a nice social media presence on Instagram, tiktok, twitter and Facebook as well.
We are very engaged with our followers and they are engaged with us as well.
We have been honored to be posted by many social media platforms with our work. Such as BlackFoodFridays, BlackFoodieFinder. Also our work has been reposted by Artist such as Muni Long, J. Howell, Young E Class
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I believe what helped me build my reputation was the fact that I was already working in the community and being known there can put you in many rooms, I also believe that working with so many chefs and gaining knowledge from them all while being noticed for the good work that was done.
My hard work in both areas has helped me tremendously to be able to be known in such a short time being in the culinary field.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/MentalMayhem
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mental.meals
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/mentalsmeals
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mentals.meals
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/quickstrike78
Image Credits
Mental Mayhem Photography Little Footz Memories HollaDefintion