We were lucky to catch up with Sabrina Lopez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sabrina, appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

During my last semester of college, I was assigned a marketing project that had me create a personal brand that would include social media accounts promoting myself as an evergreen topic. I made the decision to write about my fears of the unknown. Sharing such personal information was daunting, but I was glad that I did it. By admitting that my biggest fear of sharing my passion for cooking, recipes and my forever dream of owning my own food business, I was able to open up and actually have real discussions about it with family and friends. They were very supportive and fabulous at convincing me to keep sharing my ideas and creations on the Instagram profile I had started for my class assignment.

I began promoting my recipes and posting the charcuterie boards I started making after I ended the Disney College Program. Soon after posting a few of my creations, my first official customer was my cousin Marissa. Now I know, the question is asking me about my first client that wasn’t a family/friend, but I still consider her my first customer. She was the first person to pay me for my service and promoted me not because I am her cousin, but as a business. If it was not for her wanting to pay me and be my first customer, I would not have sold boards to other people. She pushed me to start selling boards. Once other friends and family saw she ordered a charcuterie board from me, it felt like everyone I knew was reaching out to ask if I was selling my boards. What a feeling of accomplishment!!!! It made me realize that I had just been given the golden opportunity to chase my dream of creating my own food business. I started very cautiously…I was SO nervous since I was finishing my last semester of college, while juggling my marketing internship!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi! My name is Sabrina, and I am the owner/operator of Sabrina’s Delicacies, a local charcuterie company located in Lakeland, FL that delivers throughout Central FL. I am 24 years old and started this business venture during my last semester of college at St. Leo University in 2020 (leave it to me to start a food business during a pandemic – lol). I fell in love with charcuterie when I worked at The Marketplace at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. During my breaks, I would ALWAYS eat the small grab and go charcuterie boards that were sold at my job. That was the first time I was able to work in the industry I had always been, and continue to be, very passionate about (Hospitality/Food & Beverage). Disney gives Cast Members the opportunity to create “magical moments” for their Guests, that combined with the privilege of speaking with resort Guests, gifted me with personal magical moments and amazing memories. My favorite part of that job was getting to meet several Disney chefs and see them creating all of their incredible dishes in the main kitchens backstage.

I started making charcuterie boards for friends and family while I was working at my marketing internship at a local company in Lakeland. I enjoyed it so much that after graduation in the Fall of 2020, I decided to start Sabrina’s Delicacies, slowly. You see, I was working at this company as a marketing intern and I was trying to decide what I wanted to do in life. By February of 2021, I was still doing both jobs, and it had become increasingly difficult to juggle my time and still do both jobs well. I had to turn down a lot of business as I could not accommodate weekday deliveries because of my Monday through Friday office job. I had found myself at a crossroad and I had no idea what to do. I mean, it’s hard choosing between a good chance at a solid job or starting something from the ground up with no guaranteed success or income!

One day in April 2021, I was sitting in my cubicle at the office and I found myself wishing for a sign from God, the Universe…SOMETHING that would show me that starting this business full time was what I was meant to do. You see, I was torn between my dream and the reality of a steady paycheck at a corporate job. It’s not that I didn’t like my job, but I definitely wasn’t passionate about it. I was anxious, exhausted, and discouraged…just plain miserable. I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t dream about having my own food business. My mother still has all of the schoolwork I did that asked what I wanted to be when I grew up…it was always about food.

An hour after wishing for my sign, my phone started BLOWING UP with notifications. I couldn’t keep up with all the emails, orders, DMs, follows and likes I was getting on social media! I had to start Googling the heck out of Sabrina’s Delicacies! Well, talk about FREAKING OUT….I found that the article, “Crazy Cool Things You Can Get Delivered to Your Disney World Hotel,” by the Disney Food Blog was posted, and right in front of me was a picture of one of MY CHARCUTERIE BOARDS!!!!! Was that a sign or what?!? LOL! That was the moment that I realized that my dreams were about to come true! My social media accounts EXPLODED!!!! Two weeks later I resigned from my internship and turned my DREAM into a FULL TIME JOB!
It’s now November 2022, and Sabrina’s Delicacies is being run by ME; a 24 year old whose business started creating orders for residents in Lakeland, FL to creating orders from amazing people from all over the COUNTRY who are staying at Walt Disney World!

Here is the best part, I’m SUPER EXCITED to announce that Sabrina’s Delicacies will be opening a store in Lakeland, FL in 2023! Words aren’t enough to describe this feeling of accomplishment and how truly blessed and grateful I am for the support my Lakeland and Disney World communities have shown me this past year.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Starting this business has not been a smooth road whatsoever. I feel as though I had to pivot in my life, career, and business all at the same time in 2021 and that was extremely hard. I started my business during a global pandemic in 2020, while finishing my last semester of college and working at my marketing internship.

Once I graduated in the Fall of 2020, I decided to take Sabrina’s Delicacies seriously, and I started my business in February of 2021. I still had my marketing internship job, so it was hard juggling my job and building Sabrina’s Delicacies. I had to turn down numerous orders because I could not accommodate weekday deliveries due to my work hours.
I couldn’t devote the time I needed to my business. Also, at the time I was a one-woman show- I was the one delivering, doing all the administrative work, making the charcuterie boards, keeping up with inventory, the marketing, the list can go on! Talk about having to pivot!!! I had to keep changing hats and my focus on things. One minute it was a work assignment with a close due date, the next was strategizing how to get a huge order to Disney on a weekday. So once the business took off after the Disney Food Blog article, my life completely changed. I went from graduating college, thinking I was going to start my career in marketing, to quitting my INTERNSHIP (I had never had a salaried job) to starting my own business at the age of 23. I went from a 9-5 and having a boss to making my own schedule because I am the boss. It hasn’t been easy and it still isn’t an easy job/lifestyle, but it was the best decision I could have made for myself. I have passion for what I do.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I am known for my Disney-themed charcuterie boards that are requested by guests visiting Walt Disney World. I think what sets my business apart from other charcuterie companies is the personalization I add to every board.

I offer my customers the opportunity to customize their boards according to their tastes and life events. I hand make most of the décor for my customer’s orders! For example, customers can tell me who their favorite Disney characters are, and I make sure that even their toothpicks will represent those characters on their boards. I’ve done birthdays, girl’s weekends, Disney 50th anniversary, showers and gender reveal boards to name a few. I take into account specified food allergies, taste preferences, etc. I try to add personal touches to every order, and it truly makes my customers feel special. My focus is providing excellent customer service and above all, I want my customers to feel special and know that I care about making them happy.

I believe I have built a reputation within my market because I genuinely have a passion for the food industry and I think it shows through my service and products. When I worked at Walt Disney World, I enjoyed speaking with guests and tried to make their stay a little extra magical. That is the biggest objective I have in this business. I want every customer to feel like magic.

My business has given me many new friendships. I’ve gotten to know so many of my recurring customers and their families. It’s been a lot of work, but with an equal amount of fun! I’m proud that I’ve been able to cultivate customer loyalty and I’m striving to continue serving my Lakeland and Disney communities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sabrinasdelicacies.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabrinasdelicacies/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sabrinasdelicacies/

Image Credits
All photos are by Sabrina’s Delicacies.