We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Quincy Jones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Quincy below.

Alright, Quincy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss? What did you learn from them? Maybe you can share a story that illustrates the kind of boss they were or maybe you can share your thoughts on what you think made them an awesome person to work for?

I would definitely have to say that the best boss Ive had was hands down my old Food & Beverage Manager Kelly. Back when I worked in hospitality and hotels my previous experience was working the line and cooking in the kitchen mostly. I was so used to being “back of the house” as we call it I had little to no interaction at all with customers. The ability to respond to positive and negative feedback, how to deal with complaints. Recognize customers needs and all around Guest satisfaction was all foreign to me. Admittedly I was not interested in it at all, I just wanted to cook. When Kelly first came in and took over our department many didn’t know how she would do or how long she would last because of the high turnover rate with management previously. Her management style was different she didn’t come in and push her weight around or draw lines of manager and employee in fact she would role up her sleeves and get right down with us no matter the task. She was present most of all and never asked anyone to do something she was not willing to do herself. This style paired with her sweet and bubbly personality made you want to work harder and take more pride in what you did. More importantly for me she helped break me out of my shell took me under her wing and really showed me alot. Boosted my confidence in guess relations. How to deal with customers, employees and even user management. Her management skills and have helped me to be the type of team lead and business owner that I am today.

Quincy, 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?

Those who know me and have been following me on my journey these last few years has definitely seen the title “,The Pullup Chef”. My willingness to travel or “pullup” is a name one of my earlier clients gave me when i would come to do regular fish fries for him and his family one day then I’m out delivering plates around Raleigh and Durham the next. He thought it was funny to see me out everywhere cooking or delivering food and the name the pull up chef just stuck. Im really proud of my work as a private chef and caterer. Being able to travel all over to different cities and states to feed people has been amazing. With the food industry definitely being a high volume business and you can find a caterer or chef just about anywhere you go nowadays it can be easy to get lost in the mix. For me I think it is the pride in my work, personal relationships built with my customers and the willingness to not serve anything that I would not eat myself. Or the genuine love for what I do is what I feel sets me apart and reflects in the work that I do. Giving people the desire to want to spread the word to everyone they know and continue to patronize my business also has been key to my continued growth over the years. In addition to working with customers I love developing relationships with fellow entrepreneurs and business owners who are in similar industries. Networking and building those relationships are another key factor in growth. Whether it’s a romantic night I for two or a huge dinner for 100+ I want people to know that they can come to Taste Of Soul Catering spend there hard earned dollars and be confident that they will get a delicious and consistent product each and every time.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Social media has been a great way to expose your business to the world. But I always say that nothing is better than word of mouth and many of my customers come to me from either a direct recommendation from a past customer or they attended an event that I catered in the post and wanted to reach out to do there also.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I would say 3 things have done that, 1 a consistent and quality product 2 willingness to travel and let my brand be known to as many as I can and 3 having the ability to be flexible and work with people to make there event special. Whether that’s working around a specific budget, respecting dietary needs or allergies. And even doing things that may be out of scope of just cooking a meal for someone. When you treat people well care about your customers and take pride in what you are doing I believe that will spread outward from them to others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://taste-of-soul-catering.square.site/
• Instagram: @tasteofsoulraleigh
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/tasteofsoulcatering919/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quincyj55
• Other: https://linktr.ee/ChefQpresents