We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nadia Sturdivant a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nadia, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Striving to swim up against a current in a world and industry focused on hustle, profit, and self-gain proves itself to be, unfulfilling. In the pursuit of “finding ourselves”, we as a mainstream culture have lost ourselves. It’s not new news, nothing social media of the age or the pandemic hasn’t shown us. In times of vulnerability, we’ve hoped and dreamt dreams, most times with great intentions, only to see most those dreams crash and burn. As an intentional Christian who started with a very sincere vision of doing things as unto the Lord my God and, for His glory, I’ve found myself, many times, caught up in the striving for the sake of making a name for myself, getting out of debt, and wanting to be known. I’ve fallen short to the not so unique mindset centered around me, or worship of self.
Ironically, Christian values aside, I’ve assumed the role of a hospitality steward, which means I’m supposed to serve others, putting their needs before my own, right?
Far too often though, my own insecurities have prevented me from serving the ones I love the most well. The deeply rooted fears of rejection and fear of man have manifested themselves in becoming a people pleaser or, a “yes woman”. While not the worst trait to embody as as someone who serves others, I’ve been doing some deep thinking about motive; the driving force for what moves us, it’s where hopes and dream are birthed.
Wanting to stand out, as a small business owner has come with sacrifice, and where it’s hit the most, and to my own doing in, my health, finances, time, and devotion to God. As a steward of a business assuming a Christian approach, that says, “My business will never me mine, it’ll always belong to Jesus!” I’ve learned to surrender and finally try the “strategy” that’s worked for every other part of my life. It means incorporating faith, trust, hope, and rest.
With that said, the biggest “risk” of starting a business in this world, aside from publicly “advertising” as Faith based (though trivial in the Bible Belt), has been incorporating my trust of hearing the Lords’ voice for instruction, obeying, and leaning into rest as an act of trust. One could say this “strategy” makes way for a hospitality approach that lays its’ life down but really, it’s an act of total surrender, so that God willing, I can serve others well, in the hopeful future.
So, in a world where it seems the noise never ends, I’m choosing, with an act of my will, to lean into an intentional period of rest for the business I’ve been entrusted to steward, and its efforts. Of course, many may say, rest is a given to operate, but for someone who’s constantly fallen to burnout in an industry that demands sacrifice, be it time spent with loved ones or missed holidays, all for the sake of serving others so that we could be able to put food on our own tables, and especially in an industry that’s known for toxic striving to “make it” to the top, I’m surrendering to the rewiring, to learn what it means to accept the grace to rest, to stop striving, and to trust God. A surrendered agenda, and a hope in the security that Jesus promises me as a daughter. I’m choosing to be still and know that whatever He has, in His perfect timing, will come to pass, and I’m okay with not knowing the next step, for now. Here, I choose to be present, to listen to my body, and rest. No more striving, just abiding at the feet of Jesus. Radical strategy eh’? As for me and this business, He’s worth it.
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
As an adolescent, I remember my mom would instruct my sister and I to fend for ourselves as she worked the night shifts to provide for us. I vividly remember still being fairly young enough where it was okay to jump on the counter to reach in the cupboards and on one occasion I mistakenly used flour in the place of sugar for Kool-Aid, I tried to fix it with soy sauce packets, my sister (aka my taste tester) was not pleased. Thankfully, my mother made efforts to take care of us the best she knew how, and eventually trips to the McDonalds drive through became a distant memory. We were taught to be resourceful with what we had in the fridge and pantry, and we learned to prefer fruits and vegetables. Creating food made from scratch started as a necessity and blossomed into elementary writing assignments centered around Food Network idols, a dream to be a chef, and days spent anxiously awaiting a driver’s license so I could go to the store myself to pick up that one missing ingredient! A dream for serving the multitudes and nourishing people’s souls through food has carried me through 8 years of experience in the Food & Beverage and Hospitality Industries.
I currently steward Seed & Harvest Goods & Market and operate as a Private Chef, Caterer, and Culinary Instructor serving the Dallas and Ft. Worth Metropolitan areas holding a vision to deliver unique culinary experiences that ignite appetites and excite taste buds! I live to serve with excellence and love imparting the passion for others to create and enjoy food for themselves through in home instruction so that they can better meet the needs of their loved ones. A militant emphasis on quality ingredients coupled with the application of my culinary knowledge sourced from international travels, industry experience, and gastronomical studies, come together to form intentionally curated dishes made to cultivate an experience over the table. Whether it be coming together to “break bread” or bring healing and restoration where the commonly held vulnerability to be fed is found, I hope to nourish tables with smiles and good eats!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The nature of catering means incorporating resilience through creativity, strategy for maintaining quality standards, and stewardship of intentional relationships that are centered around the needs of clients and their circles of influence. Valuing people over profit, being able to listen well, and meet others in their vulnerability for the purpose of creating solutions that intentionally propel a flourishing quality of life.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Understanding that genuine hospitality is not a skill to be learned but a gift to be cultivated, one that requires a careful and sensitive approach to the needs of humans and all their personalities/traits/complications. Hospitality is more than attention to details, or folding a napkin correctly instead, its meeting people where they are.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.seedandharvestgoods.com
- Instagram: @seedandharvestgoods
Image Credits
Profile: Cassandra Sturdivant