We were lucky to catch up with Shakera Stith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shakera, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

While I would hope that family and friends would be a part of my growth with success, it is not something I pressure them with. Fincailly I don’t feel like that type of pressure to spend money with you should be a thing. Your family and friends should not be your target audience, neither should they be a big percentage of it. However i do feel like they are a big part of my support on their own in other ways, especially my wife! My wife goes crazy about my business and if she’s ever hands on as far as delivering or inquiry response she is as delicate with my customers as I am. The most support I feel I should recieve from my friends and family is exposure, putting my name in rooms where my services could be used, referrals, word of mouth, and also sharing my social media post pertaining to my business, etc. I would like to be known beyond just my friends and family! My target audience are people who loves to feel their food, foodies, and those who are able to eplore delicately through taste!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Ello, my name is Shakera Stith or Chef Shak founder and owner of Shak’s Sahani LLC. Shak’s Sahani is a mobile bistro experience. Inspired by my childhood view of my father’s love in the kitchen sparked a love within me to create tasteful experiences. I strive to provide love in every bite with my bistro cuisine. Shak’s Sahani currently provides weekly menus of bistro cuisine, and also offers catering options, private dining, weekly meal preps, wing sauce, and seasonings. Options deliver from Brunch to Dinner. I curate menus based on how I currently feel creatively and transfer them into how I want others to feel through eating.

I am a woman of Thee Western High School 2010′, However, I began my further education studies in Hospitality Management at the University of MD Eastern Shore (UMES) and later came home to finish my studies at Baltimore International College (BIC). while in my second year at BIC the school lost its accreditation and shut down. I felt stuck and didn’t know what to do. I took a break from school and started in the workforce where I found out about a program called public allies. I was referred by a mentor, and did a little research and felt like it could be the start in a new direction to out of the place I felt stuck in. I did a year with the public allies apprenticeship and enrolled back into school. This time I moved my primary to business and enrolled in CCBC Essex. I Graduated with my associate’s in Business Management and followed through to get my Bachelor’s in Business Management from Coppin State University (CSU) this past spring.

I always knew I loved to cook I grew up in the kitchen helping my grandmothers and mother. However, I knew I fell in love with it cooking with my dad. He was a different type of cook. He used cooked books and explored different cultures’ foods. I went to a school potluck where the dish had to of the African culture and we had a blast! That was the moment I knew I loved good food and cooking!

For me, my passion and my vibe are what sets me from the rest. I have my own lane and I don’t care for it to be a competition. Having a business isn’t only about what you produce as a service but it’s about you as a human. When people watch your brand they watch YOU! Your vibe, the way you treat customers, and the relationships you build all go into your business. In a generic way, you attract what you produce, and it all goes hand in hand with your business.

Something I am most proud of would have to be the way I have put myself out there for exposure and some of the different ventures I have participated in from pop-up shops to competitions and actually winning. I’m kind of shy so it takes me a while to warm up to people lol, however, I have been moving with more intent on getting out there to network. This past year I took a teaching job for a creative mentoring class for high school and two culinary classes for elementary school with a few after-school culinary classes and it opened me up a lot. The experience was very rewarding and showed how much I inspire people I come in contact with. Working with kids allowed me to see how you can teach so many life skills, character, and structure through cooking even beyond the kitchen. It was also said more family cooking nights came through the excitement of at-home practices in the kitchen. I’m very family oriented so that warmed my heart to hear and know I was a part of that moment being created. Another thing I am proud of is being the first college grad in my immediate family, I have siblings who look up to me so I try my best to stay a positive role model and big sister for them.

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

The best source of new clients has been the ones I connect with myself firsthand. For example, If I’m catering a party or wedding, I always have people who ask for a business card, and they may give me compliments or ask questions about things I offer that lead into other conversations, and boom I have a new client. It gives my potential client a chance to briefly get to know me. I have to say referrals are one of my favorite types of customers because if they haven’t been able to taste my food I get to prove myself! Seeing my customer’s responses to my food through body language, facial expressions, and or just compliments is what keeps me going. I love to see people melt in their seats over my dishes. It’s my peace of feeling accomplished!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I love challenges but I can honestly say this was a challenge I did not see coming. This past summer a customer of mine gave me the wrong date for her event. The afternoon of the event she called and asked what time would i be arriving and where I would be setting up and I was so confused. I responded by asking if she was asking about her event for the following day, and we had come to the conclusion the date change was miscommunicated. However, having her cold salads prepared, I did what I could, to make all that I could happen, to make her event successful even preparing some dishes on site. My only goal was to not have my client stressed about something I could fix and I did just that! I was shook, all my reliable helpers were busy, and I had to pull myself together and think fast. it was a hell of a challenge but I succeeded and that’s all I could be thankful for! I’m very thankful for my wife doing all my miscellaneous needs ton help my process go smoother, even though in my head it was a mad house.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Shaks_sahani, Chef__Shak
• Facebook: Shaks Sahani LLC

Image Credits
Nova Johnson