Describe your business:
We work to help consult businesses in effective social media marketing strategies and to envision and host high-quality food-related events. We have poured our heart and soul into supporting our local food community, and we love getting to help businesses grow their online presence, and as a result, their bottom line, every day! We operate the only merit-based restaurant award program in the Spokane and Coeur d’ Alene area and have developed a detailed evaluation tool that our hand-selected Tastemakers use to find culinary excellence all around the Inland Northwest. We are grateful to have gotten a warm response from local chefs and restaurant owners in support of our mission, and our desire to give back 80% of our net profits to a local charity – Second Harvest.
What is the most important piece of your business:
Our shared enthusiasm is definitely the most important part of our business. Every single member of our team genuinely loves our home, Spokane, and wants to see local businesses succeed. Combined with our genuine joy in supporting these hard-working establishments, our expertise can help businesses build their social media following and authentic connection with potential and current customers, and custom tailor an effective strategy to increase revenue through up to the minute marketing methods. We want to help businesses work smarter, not harder, and spend their valuable time in their restaurants or with managing the operations of their event, not staring endlessly at a screen!
Give some recommendations to moms from your perspective:
The most important recommendation I can give is to make sure that your children are eating whole foods as often as possible from a young age. In working with the restaurant industry’s top chefs, each of them is passionately dedicated to consuming locally grown, organic and non-GMO products, and we do the same in our own home as much as we possibly can. Places like Main Market downtown, Pilgrim’s and Huckleberries have some excellent choices for families to get excellent products that they can trust.
What’s mindset change you had after you began your practice:
I realized that making tough decisions was ok. As women, I think we are sometimes trained to believe that being assertive is a bad thing, but I’ve begun to embrace that side of myself and I have learned to trust my gut. If something doesn’t seem like a good fit, it probably isn’t. Believing in my own inner voice has become increasingly important as the business has grown and developed.
How can people start this same journey?
As with any entrepreneurial enterprise, it is best to choose something that you are deeply, profoundly passionate about. When I began making the Spokane Culinary Arts Guild a reality, it was far more difficult (and expensive!) than I could have imagined to get started. That said, there are amazing resources available to help guide you along the way to do things right. The Washington Small Business Development Center was incredibly helpful, and there are many other organizations that can provide similar guidance. http://wsbdc.org/
Becoming a food blogger and event manager has taken years of dedication to the craft. Being open to new learning, to constructive critical feedback from those you ask for advice, and also knowing that real growth takes time and patience has all served me well as I’ve developed this business. It’s been one incredible ride, and now I find that I have more opportunities than I could possibly take advantage of. I need to be very judicious with what I say yes to in order to maintain enough time for my family and my day job that I love with all of my heart, teaching in a Title 1 school. Dedicating 10 hours per week to my side hustle has proven to be a good formula for me, and as long as I hold tightly to that, it works beautifully for me and my family.
Find Us On Social Media:
Our website, where you can become a Guild member for free by subscribing to our newsletters: https://www.spokaneculinaryartsguild.com/
My personal blog that reflects my own opinions and adventures all around the US: https://www.plately.net/
Our Facebook group, Spokane Foodies, to find the latest food events in our area: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1074262342705089/
The Guild’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/spokaneculinaryartsguild/
The Guild’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spokaneculinaryartsguild/?hl=en
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