We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelli McCollum a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kelli, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

Most of my friends and family support me on social media. They share posts and give my name out when someone might be interested. That means a lot to me. Two of my brothers don’t have a big presence on social media and don’t really applaud me or my efforts. Trying not to take that personally. (Ha.) But for the most part I’m very blessed by a large group of supportive people. I don’t advertise so social media and word of mouth is key..

Kelli, 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 way my business came about isn’t very exciting. In fact, it’s very anti-climactic. I’ve enjoyed hosting over the years, cooking meals and serving. My girls and I liked having cheese, crackers and grapes on the beach as they were growing up, as a light, no fuss dinner. These “dinners” became more advanced over the years. After a divorce, and during a very stressful job in healthcare, I began to think I could maybe do charcuterie boards as a side hustle. Just to tap into my right brain a bit. I began right before Thanksgiving 2019. I got several orders for the holiday and then it just too off! There are many “cheese girls” in the Nashville area and I feel we all bring our own flair to what we do. We actually have a group message where we can vent or bounce things off of each other. It’s a great community. My style is more “boho” than picture perfect. I like to bring in unexpected details to complete the look of an order whether it’s a board or a grazing table.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I respond to each message, call or email I get. Typically, within an hour of receiving. I find that is one of my strong suits- communication. I’ve always been a communicator, a story teller. My oldest daughter says I’m “too poetic” with my words. I’m not sure what that means to her (haha) but I’ve always been one to over communicate rather than bite my tongue.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There have been two times in the past three years where I’ve been contacted regarding something that wasn’t right with an order. I view that as a success, actually, but they were devastating to me. One was I had forgotten to include gluten free crackers. The customer was really unhappy. I offered to refund her money and she accepted. Never heard from her again. End of story. The other time was when I COMPLETELY forgot about an order. If people text me or message me on Instagram, I always tell them to place an order on my website. That way it goes into a queue for me and I WILL get it. I can’t depend on my cluttered mind to remember everything. When I forgot this sweet customer’s order I felt awful. She and her husband were going to the vineyard for a much needed quiet afternoon. I dropped the ball. Messed up their plans. I was certain she would be done with me but I insisted on giving them a board free of charge for another afternoon. All was well but boy, did that upset me. I am hard on myself so thankfully, I’ve not forgotten another order since.

Contact Info:

• Website: onboard-nashville.com
• Instagram: On Board Nashville
• Facebook: OnBoard Nashville