We recently connected with Mayra Whaley and have shared our conversation below.
Mayra, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Ever since I was little I loved to eat cheese, I was almost never allowed to shred or crumble cheese for dinner because half of it would end up eaten by me. Fast forward to my twenties my husband and I traveled to Italy for our honeymoon. My passion and taste buds only grew from there. I would make occasional charcuterie boards for family and friends but then covid hit and everything went stagnant. I was pregnant with my first and times were really uncertain. I decided to quit my full time job at a local school district to stay home and keep my family safe. A year later covid restrictions started to dwindle and people were more comfortable going out, that’s when I started to get request for charcuterie boards again. After getting several request I realized that this was something I’m truly passionate about and wanted to pursue my full potential. From there everything is history, I decided to open up my small business Vino+Graze to cater all types of events.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Im a mother of two and married to a firefighter. With much support and encouragement I decided to start my small business to pursue my passion in charcuterie boards. My mission is to bring those around your table closer together by bonding over delicious cheese and wine. With Vino+Graze you will find yourself creating new and exquisite pairings every single bite. All of our orders are unique, from the cheese selection, to the presentation itself.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I saw a quote stating “sometimes learning is unlearning” I never understood it until now. What I had to unlearn was the “beast mode” mentality. Overworking has been modernized and become acceptable to the point of causing pride amongst others. I’ve learned that hustle culture is truly toxic, not only has it made me unhappy but my creativity took a huge toll as well. This lesson was hard for me to unlearn as every time I took a break it felt like a sin and something I shouldn’t be worthy of since I have so much to do. Now that I’ve set my boundaries and been taking my well deserved breaks my creativity has flourished & my business has taken off at a great rate.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
My social media audience was built off taking pride of my work. I always take pictures and videos of my charcuterie boards or grazing stations. I try to post everyday and I encourage my followers and customers to share my work. People can see when you are truly passionate about something and when you are it’s hard not to succeed.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vinoandgraze.com
- Instagram: @vinoandgraze
- Facebook: @vinoandgraze