From Impossible to Possible

A Food Lover's Journey to Finding a Path and Process to Achieving Her Purpose

Greetings, friends! 👋🏿👋👋🏽 I don’t know about you, but my August was crazy busy. Now, in September, as we welcome the new season, I want to share with you how Ruby Colón discovered a new season in her life. She’s the entrepreneur behind Latin Raices Catering (Note: “raíces” means “roots” in Spanish). You may recall from Part One, when faced with the opportunity to take her career in a different direction, Colón asked herself, “Girl, are you going to run? Are you going to stay?”

Now, in Part Two, find out how she answered those questions.

In this article, you’ll learn the following:

🌴 Why you shouldn’t ignore that voice inside

🌴 The importance of looking for non-obvious, lower-cost niches in an industry

🌴 Why you can’t forget the associated costs of doing business

🌴 This is how Ruby Colón faced that pivotal moment in her life…

Ruby Colón - Founder and CEO of Latin Raices Catering

DON’T IGNORE THE VOICE INSIDE

When Ruby Colón was offered the opportunity to take on a new challenge – to cater a small, 40-guest event on her own - she found herself doing mental gymnastics.

“I was playing hopscotch. Like, should I go forward? Should I go back? Should I play it safe?”

After all, she describes her upbringing in Pennsylvania as “very humble.”

But something inside told her, “We were meant for more. I’m meant for more. I’m deserving of more.”

So she says, once she filled her mind with that idea, “I didn’t stay still. I moved. And I ran with it.”

THERE’S NOT JUST ONE PATH; FIND THE ONE THAT WORKS FOR YOU

But she made sure to get to know other chefs first and learn from them.

She believes catering is a safer route to pursue a career involving food.

“It’s just an easier way, right, to get into the food industry vs. taking out [a] $100,000 loan to open up a new restaurant.”

Owning a restaurant isn’t the only way to make your mark in the food industry

TO BE CONSIDERED A PROFESSIONAL, MAKE SURE YOU GET THE PROPER CERTIFICATIONS

But don’t be fooled. It’s still a process. Colón says there are still a bunch of certifications you need to get.

“It’s not like cooking from home and, then, I’m going to serve. It’s definitely not like that, and I don’t encourage anybody to do that.”

She says there’s a certification for food and beverage handling. And there are different levels, depending on your job.

For example, Colón explains that there’s the starter food and beverage handling certification and also one for managers.

Besides deciding if you’ll register as an LLC (limited liability corporation), an S corporation or as another type of business entity, Colón recommends you budget for liability insurance.

“I would not put a business at risk to shortcut anything that’s going to make you legit.”

In Florida, don’t forget your catering license with the Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation that you’ll have to renew annually.

She says you have to meet with the health inspector and then sign up with a commissary kitchen.

That comes with a word of caution.

“You better make sure you check them out because, if they’re not clean, then that falls on your license, even if you’re not there.”

She says the process took her three months. But she says that was because the testing process for certification doesn’t necessarily happen as often as people may expect.

A splash of color and flavor

ASSUME NOTHING – OR YOU’LL GET BLINDSIDED WITH UNWELCOME SURPRISES

Colón also wants you to learn from her mistakes on the operations side of the business.

Because she started catering at an all-inclusive venue where she had worked full-time, she assumed all venues offered the same type of services and features.

That wasn’t the case.

“Because they [previous venue] offered everything, the minute I hit an outside venue, I was like, ‘Uh, I didn’t know we had to do that…’”

Colón also encourages you to learn how to be more efficient when it comes to food prep, storage and shopping.

“You know, like meeting with suppliers. I didn’t know that was a thing.”

On the marketing side, Colón believes the key question to answer involves branding.

DO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND YOUR BRAND?

She says potential clients may ask you, “What is it that your brand is about?” They may also ask, “What does it [your catering service] include? What do you provide?”

She adds, “If you don’t know how to answer those questions, you’re going to… lose clientele.”

Branding has affected her approach to her website.

“When I first started, I actually built my website. It was horrible.”

She says it was “such a copy and paste thing.”

Then, she rebranded by tweaking the logo. The process was an evolution. She told the person she hired, “I want a grown-up look. I want… people to look at this “L” and know this is Latin Raices…”

She played with color schemes and different designs. For example, she says an earlier version of her website had “a fork and knife with a world behind it. And, now, it’s that beautiful ‘L’ going into the roots.”

The evolution of her website is reflective of the evolution and growth Colón has experienced in how she presents herself to her clients.

When she first started catering, she would show up, almost as if to say, “Like, here I am with food for your event and whatnot…”

“And, now, it’s, like, ‘Hey, let’s chat on the phone. Let’s create. Let’s curate that menu’… It’s like a date almost, you know?”

Ruby celebrating her Latino roots through the dishes she creates

ENJOY THE PEARLS OF WISDOM THAT COME FROM THE PROCESS

And what the process has taught her about herself is priceless.

“What I thought was possible for Ruby as a little girl was literally just dreaming. And, I think that I dreamt so much because, you know, you think… that’s not possible.”

It’s not that Colón didn’t have the support.

“My mom was always positive [about] everything that I wanted to do. You know, I could’ve told her, ‘Mom, I want to be a freakin’ pony and she would’ve been like, ‘You go, baby. Go, baby, let’s do it!’”

Except there was a critical element missing.

“I never spoke to her about what I thought was possible.”

And now? What does Ruby Colón say to herself after becoming a small business owner?

“Oh my God, you’re here! Like, you have this. This is you! Wow, and I think, yeah, that was a breakthrough.”

Joy personified: Ruby is in her element

INSPIRATION FOR THIS ISSUE:

The more I read about success, the more I realize it starts with what you tell yourself.

You decide whether you can be successful or not.

You can read any number of motivational books or listen to any motivational podcasts or Ted Talks.

But I think only until you convince yourself, in your subconscious mind, that it really is possible, can you have your own breakthrough.

I thought the path Ruby Colón charted for herself reminds us that it’s important to define your category and further break it down into your niche.

The default for those who love cooking may seem to be to open a restaurant.

But, as we’ve discussed before, that’s a tough route to pursue.

So, instead, Ruby analyzed the possibilities and decided catering was one way of pursuing her passion without taking excessive risk.

Even now, she uses independent contractors who also have full-time jobs. She supports them with side work while they support her as she builds her business.

She found a way to make it work.

And that’s something to keep in mind: don’t give up on the big picture. Find your corner of the market.

Just because it may be different from what people expect, or may be different from what you, yourself, envisioned, doesn’t mean you can’t make it happen. #theskyisNOTthelimit

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🌴 Here’s hoping this is your best season yet! Thank you for your support. 😺

Ruby finds her purpose and all the possibilities that come with it