We were lucky to catch up with Shivonne Hood recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shivonne, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Our mission is to bring excellent food and service to our clients while elevating the catering experience. We strive to be a “one stop shop” for brides and those planning events and special occasions. I want to continue empowering and supporting women, young ladies, moms, who, like me want to have additional streams of income and have the girl boss vibe. I also want to make a statement that black women can have a strong presence in a mainly male dominated industry. We strive to always remain faithful to community, faith and mission, giving back as we are blessed and always keeping my children first.
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?
We started out mostly doing meal delivery service and marketed it through FB. It grew from that (organically) into the Table For 2 you know today. We have done most of our growth through social media and word of mouth up until this past year when we joined The Knot, and I’m very proud of that. I’m thankful for the reputation that we have and that we have many return customers that we have married, done baby showers for, done the holiday parties… it’s cool to be a part of the continued growth of families and businesses throughout the years. Having the trust and knowing they enjoy the food I put out and the service we provide is such a great feeling. I love creating custom menus for our clients and helping them make their vision come to life, it’s very fulfilling.
I think we are special because we do offer all in one options for clients. We can facilitate everything from food, desserts, bartending, decor, rentals, etc. We have heard such great feedback of how it’s so helpful to have everything under one umberella so they don’t have to stress or work with so many different vendors. And we have great working relationships with other small business owners that allows us to send referrals and do for others what clients have done for us. I feel it’s so important to pay it forward and support those who do amazing work that needs to be supported.
Any advice for managing a team?
I would say to just be yourself. Anyone that joins our teams always get me for me and Jordan (operations manager) for Jordan. We both try to communicate clearly in our roles so there is no confusion. I don’t want someone to come to work and not want to be there. I think the reason our team is in such a great place right now and has so much positivity and a good groove is because we are real. I work WITH my staff. I’m not too good to do anything they do. Don’t think of yourself as more than you are, humility goes a long way. I’ve learned the hard way that there does have to be a boundary in the boss/employee relationship and there will be times when some people are not a good fit but if you stay true to the morals, foundations and truths you want your business to be based on, those coming into the workspace will feel that and it will help make a cohesive working space.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I think the biggest pivot and change for us came during COVID. Like most people, we were totally unprepared for the entire world to come to a halt and all weddings and large events to be postponed indefinitely. So, we launched charcuterie classes. At the time, I didn’t have the knowledge I do now. I knew nothing, lol. But I knew I had to figure out holding things together until business as usual resumed. So, we did. And classes sold out every time and kept us busy! It was a way for people to be able to come together in small group setting and just laugh and enjoy time for a couple of hours. With events having resumed full time, we don’t do them as often but we still do quite a few private classes/bachelorettes and our annual Christmas charcuterie class this year overflowed from one class to three! It was definitely a great move, one that I had no idea I would grow to love as much as I do now.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tablefor2catering.net
- Instagram: @tablefor2catering
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TableFor2Catering