Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Jackson
Hi Andrea, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is Andrea, born and raised in Queens, NY. My family comes from a very diverse background as a 1st generation Vietnamese American on my father’s side and second generation Puerto Rican on my mother’s side it’s safe to say I’ve experienced the best of both worlds. Working as a manager for a profound hotel brand in Times Square and customer service experience from retail my love for hospitality grew. Became an entrepreneur in 2015 and took over a family business. My love for business merged with hospitality and only grew as time passed.
In 2020, when everyone was pursuing their true passions and creative sides I started to make charcuterie boards for my husband and I for date nights. Realizing there was a niche for something like this in Orlando I pitched the idea to my husband to “start selling boards for profit” whom was extremely supportive during the entire process. Quickly got into creating a logo, name for our business, business cards and LLC (plus all other legalities) within a 24 hour timeframe and had started taking orders in a matter of days.
Our side hustle quickly turned into a full time job with most people in Orlando hosting small gatherings and needing individually wrapped snacks. Our charcuterie cones were a huge hit during this time period and extremely popular. Over the next year, my husband and I decided to expand our business into a mobile food trailer. This allowed us to be able to prepare food on site for markets, festivals, private events ect. We served so many amazing people over the last three years with our food trailer. Also, have had the pleasure of working with amazing creators and other small businesses in Orlando.
Fast forward to 2024. our food truck is currently available for private bookings only and we are currently catering weddings, birthday parties, bachelorette parties, bridal parties, and so much more. Doing events as a caterer and creating art through food for others has truly been the most fulfilling experience ever! We are not working we are having so much FUN bringing others together over delicious spreads.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Although social media may present things as being perfect every business goes through their ups and downs. Since we are such a particular niche with charcuterie. We had to figure out where we fit in especially in our community and what was best for our business model. I would have never believed in a million years that I was going to end up in the culinary industry but the hardest part was trying to figure everything out as we go.
As you know, we’re big fans of Crave grazing LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a local charcuterie company that specializes in grazing tables, catering events, small bites and so much more. The beautiful thing about charcuterie is everyone has a different style. We truly love to create beautiful tables and grazing boards that stand out and Are also truly delicious. Listening to our client is one of the most important processes during booking to ensure we deliver exactly what the client has in mind. We take pride in our worth ethic and everything that goes into creating these beautiful tables and catering events.
What does success mean to you?
I believe success is a mentality and is different to everyone. The amount of success purely depends on your goals and achievements for your own business and/or self development. Success can be monetary goals for some or just being able to create your own schedule and live life around the freedom of being a business owner could also mean success to others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.cravegrazing.com
- Instagram: @Cravegrazing
- Facebook: @Cravegrazing
Image Credits
Sydney morman photography
Smp creative studio
