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

Hi Patrice, thanks for joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

Being a business owner has its pros and cons. Sometimes I wish I could just go work a regular job but make the income I make running my business. Dealing with unhappy customers that could dispute their charges, and be rewarded their money back whether guaranteed or not. Things come up in business that make you sit and wonder if it’s all worth it. Your image and reputation are constantly on the line based on customers satisfaction and YOU CAN NOT PLEASED everyone. Where as if you’re in a 9-5 your identity is concealed behind a company opposed to just you.

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.

Hi! my name is Patrice I am known as Chef Waves. I am the owner of a pop up shop/restaurant WavesBistro. My business is currently located in Gwinnett County, within the next year I am looking to expand to Miami, Florida. WavesBistro is a Caribbean and Mexican fusion , food for the soul that connects every culture.
I’m most proud of how I bounced back after four months of maternity leave, with my clientele still waiting on me. It’s hard to remain relevant with absence in this industry.
My next goal is to become a private chef for a family, and to get my business a food truck is the end goal.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my clientele off the strength of hustling and marketing. I market myself to anyone I find that will be a potential client. I seen instagram had a platform for small businesses and dived in head first.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

My side hustle turned into my full time career when I lost interest in working for someone else during the pandemic. I had already had this idea on the back burner, I just didn’t take it serious. I had already been catering for my family and friends events. I took courses on how to run a food industry business, what it means to be a chef. This business is completely different from the Beauty, I didn’t want to fail. A key milestone for me has been cooking for high end clients, professional foot ball players, Musicians and etc.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.wavesandchew.com
• Instagram: WavesBistro