We recently connected with Matthew Lennon and have shared our conversation below.
Matthew, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?
Since 2012 we have had various successes with long-term hires. I jumped into this business not knowing a thing about staffing. How big? How full time? Only time could tell. I was about to embark on a work journey with no real knowledge of the industry I was getting into. Being a restaurateur is one set of stresses; being a caterer/concessionaire is a completely different ball of wax. We still cook food. I still hire staff. I still do payroll; but as a concessionaire it’s mostly done in airports or driving some random highway in America. And when you finally get to site for the show; you sometimes have it all; tent, electric, water…..and sometimes you are still waiting for a combo of aforementioned items. This has to be one of the most stressful jobs. That being said it takes a special kind of person to get through this. When I first opened I had a lot of friends that helped out. Some took it seriously but a majority of my friends were around to party. No harm, no foul. They didn’t know what we were getting into either!
Over the years, I have had a couple of managerial or supervisory level employees that have all worked well. For one reason or another; they have come and gone. Some for the better! And some for the worse. The ones that left for the worse are the ones I think about a lot. I think about what I did wrong to make them leave? And then, over the twelve years I’ve been kicking around; I realized I’m not everyone’s cup of tea. That is ok.
Currently, I have the most incredible staff. They have all been with me for two seasons, some more. They are the baddest in the land. I think I have finally hired people like me. We know a lot, but we are all still learning. We are all from the “work hard, play hard” group. We all are team oriented, selfless, passionate, professional…and on and on. There is a time when you are on tour that you hate everything about everyone. I joke about it. “When you hate them for blinking, that’s when you know it’s good!” And we have all gotten there BUT we all bounce back. We fight like a family but we makeup much quicker. I can’t throw enough accolades on them. They are goal oriented, semi-perfectionist, food-driven and curious about the unknown. Quietly, they are starting to overhaul the menu. “how can we elevate this?” they start asking and I’m like…”oh great, they are going to start asking about mother sauces.” And if they do, I’ll be stoked to help them out.
Matthew, 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?
I am a festival concessionaire and a caterer, former food truck owner, recovering coffee shop manager and ex-corporate manager. I run around the country from March to November working at large scale music festivals. We have dabbled in artist relations catering, security catering, staff support and all points in between. During Hurricane Michael in 2018 we left a show in Virginia to head down to Bayou St George and give away food in the aftermath of the hurricane. So, we’ve kinda done the natural disaster/FEMA thing.
Typically, we work in a field kitchen at a show. My staff knows that if we are doing our busiest hour of the day, I’ll still take 60 person orders or 150 person caterings in same hour at a show. Again, they are basically the Navy Seals of the foodservice industry. I will work for 100 people or for 750 people. In the real world, we have done our fair share of weddings and office gatherings. I’d always advise people to call. We have ways of getting them what they need. It is, after all, the industry that I have chosen.
We several concepts:
The Loving Cup (cafe)
The Loving Cup Twisted Diner
SmashCity SmashBurgers
Ko’ala Kreations (Hawaiin fusion)
The Notorious P.I.G. (Roadhouse BBQ)
Top Grossing Vendor-
Wonderfront ‘22
Stagecoach ‘23
Electric Zoo ‘23
Power Trip ‘23
We have a long list of festivals with multiple locations. We also have ability to run shows in multiple states. Have show, will travel
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Under-promise and over-deliver. My colleagues and superiors on tour all know us. They know my staff almost individually. That is a great feeling as they all represent what they have been a part of for a while. But at the end of the day, don’t promise what you can’t deliver! Too many people just say yes to everything and they do not do what it takes to do the fucking thing they are saying yes too!! I’m all-in on a “full send” moment but take 3 minutes to hash it out. Equipment, finance, staff, logistics. In my industry if you say yes that is a big commitment. You commit to your staff, you commit to the show. Once the ball starts rolling it doesn’t stop; so don’t half ass that shit. Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Isn’t the worldwide answer: Covid? We were positioning the business to work across the country and then Covid shut down almost every festival in 2020. I didn’t work for a couple of months because we couldn’t get an idea of when this would be over and then somewhere around August 2020 my buddy needed a butcher and I needed work so ABBQ became my “Covid home.” I learned so much about something completely different. Kinda fell in love with the art. So, the 2020 pivot was awful considering all that was going on. However, it produced a wonderful side effect; in that I love smoking food now. It’s just this great tool for certain shows. BBQ is a culture unto itself and I want to give a shout out to the ABBQ gang for taking me in and letting me play in their sandbox.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.harryhoodcatering.com
- Instagram: @HarryHoodCatering
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/harryhoodcatering
Image Credits
Matt Lennon