We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Simper. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.
Nicole, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
I was working in the kitchen at a Wine and Whiskey Bar in Seattle, the person managing/running the kitchen quite and I was next in line to take over all the kitchen responsibilities. The owner of the Bar asked me what I wanted my title to be. I have been working in kitchens and in the food industry since I was 16 but the title of Chef seemed to pretentious and maybe I was having a bit of imposter syndrome that I could actually backup that title. Funny thing is I was totally qualified. The bar owner came back with business cards a few days later and it said Culinary Maven on them. I loved it! It felt so suited to me, Maven means an expert or connoisseur, I felt like I could work with that. Fast forward to starting my own business I knew I wanted to keep the word Maven – I was hooked to the identity of that word. I wanted my name to be strong and also be able to be used as an umbrella company name because I know I will have other businesses. Oak represented strength and my deep connection to nature and Creative puts me in the category of art and problem solving. Maven Oak Creative, right now we do Platters and Grazing Tables in the future we might be designing tiny houses!
Nicole, 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?
Maven Oak Creative is a boutique catering company that focuses solely on artistically inspired cheese platters and grazing tables. We take delicious ingredients and create the most beautiful and over the top snacking experience for events large and small!
I have been working in the service industry since I was 16 years old and got a Bachelors of Fine Arts in college. Maven Oak is the combination of real life grinding in the kitchen for years combined with my creative and artistic side. I always knew I would ‘use’ my degree!
Maven Oak didn’t reinvent the wheel but it made it look really pretty. People have been eating meat and cheese platters since the beginning of time, or at least the invention of cheese. With the rise of social media and the accessibility to photos of anything you can imagine the desire for aesthetically pleasing things has sky rocketed. Instagram has definitely made epic cheese platters a full on culinary movement! That might be dramatic but social media is a huge reason why my company and others like mine exist. We have taken something standard and mundane and made it art, because why not!
I am proud to have started a business in general and even more proud to have grown it during a pandemic. There are SO many times and obstacles that I could have thrown in the towel and got a ‘real’ job but for some reason I just kept going. I like to take time to reflect on what felt hard in the beginning and that same thing is a baseline now. It helps keep things in perspective and continue to help me drive forward and keep on keeping on. Whats hard now won’t be hard later.
You can always expect creative things from Maven Oak, we are proud to a part of the small business community. Come find us on Instagram, share with a friend, order a platter or just drool after our photos on instagram. All is welcome and everything helps a small business!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Consistency, reliability, punctuality and a damn good product! It really is pretty simple if you boil it down. Do exactly what you say you are going to do, be on time, communicate efficiently and throughly and most of all be nice! Kindness goes a long way, to clients, vendors, staff, the delivery person who lifts all the heavy stuff, put that first.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Word of mouth is THE most powerful way for me to gain new clients. People trust the opinions of people they respect more than some stranger on yelp. I have gotten very large events/orders from a client who ordered something small and then passed my name on to the company they work for or a friend who is having a wedding. I make every order I have with thought and care because I want every client to have a good experience and maybe just maybe it turns into something else down the line.
Contact Info:
- Website: mavenoakcreative.com
- Instagram: @mavenoakcreative
Image Credits
Nicole Simper – Platter Maven – Photographer