Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ravyn Alexander . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Ravyn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers
The backstory of a positive crazy story for me through my business would be one day I was on Instagram. I was scrolling through people stories and this LA known dance named “Storm Debarge” made a post on her story saying she needed a chef and that she wanted to do a collab video with them teaching her how to cook a meal so I reached out BUT knowing how much her messages get blown up a lot everyday I had a few of my friends also mention me to her and within the next week her manager reached out to me on my business page saying that Storm chose me and wanted to work with me ! I was super excited , shocked and literally my emotions were all over the place cause I couldn’t believe I got her attention. On August 12th , 2022 we filmed a cooking tutorial video of shrimp & crab jambalaya , yams and bbq vegan baked beans. It was super fun getting to meet Storm in person we had laughs and good conversation the whole time of filming and it was a wonderful experience and good exposure for my business. I was so nervous but it was exciting and I was just super honored for her to choose me knowing there was other chefs who reached out to her.
Ravyn , 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?
Well , I am 24 years old I’ll be turning 25 this year of 2023. I have been in business since 2019. I got into the food industry because all my life I always wanted to do this. At first growing up I wanted to be a food critic , but then as I graduated high school I really knew I loved prepping and cooking more. The whole being in the kitchen is like therapy to me. I went to culinary school in 2018 I did a 4 month program covering everything from tempatures , knife skills , sanitation and the different cooking methods. Once I graduated from culinary school I started my business a year later and took a risk to see where it would go. I have came a long way and now I provide more services than what I started with. I am traveling chef but I also provide meal prep services and catering for all events. I try my best to let my clients know it is a always a well done service , most of my clients are always in need for a service when it comes to birthday parties or holiday events so I cater those.
I think what sets me apart from others is that I am very friendly , understanding and I work with people the best I can. I like to take the weight off my clients shoulders so they won’t be stressed trying to figure things out. I am very accommodating.
What I am most proud of is how creative I can be and how when I plan things and have a vision of it , I love to see it come to life as planned in my head. I like to come up with different unique ideas. I am very proud to even be in business this long and that I am still going because I never thought I would be this far at my age just off of taking a risk.
The main things I want for all my potential clients is to know I am very passionate about my work. I love to make my food with love and I just like to really see the smiles I put on people faces when they have my food. I love the feedback I always receive from someone who books my services. I want to motivate anyone out there to know NEVER GIVE UP & DO NOT BE SCARED TO TAKE A RISK ! It will get you father than you think.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy to build clientele for me would be promoting myself more on social media platforms and just having friends and family get the word out as well. The big impact is mainly social media like Instagram and Facebook.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The best way to explain this would be I am a person with health issues and when I was born the doctor told my mom I won’t make it to the age of 18 because my health. As I am the age of 24 , still breathing showed me God is the one who makes the choice and seeing just how much I have been through things and conquered them has shown me I am a soldier. Many people would not believe the life I have because I am so full of life all the time and always lifting everyone around me up. The day I started my business I didn’t even think it would turn into anything I just thought it would be something I try out by selling food but I didn’t see it going out this long because I had so many thoughts. The support I have and seeing how many people love my services showed me I have to keep going. I was put on this earth to show my gift which is cooking.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @cravinravyn
- Twitter: @cravin_ravyn