Meet Taila Nieves

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny & Taila Nieves.

Hi Taila, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am a pediatric nurse and my patient’s mom was looking for a caterer for her daughter’s Quinceañera (15th birthday party). This was back in 2010. At the time, my husband Danny, (who was a truck driver) was over the road on a job. I called him and told him that I had booked our first “catering gig”. Mind you, we had never spoken about catering or opening a catering business before. I still wonder how those words came out of my mouth when this idea never crossed our minds! I just knew that we love to cook and entertain; so why not give it a try? Every time we had a gathering at our house, we’d get compliments of how good our food was and how we should go into business. So, I went ahead and I told my employer that we would be able to cater her daughter’s party. We had never catered an event before. We had no equipment, we rented everything from a party rental store and cooked in our own home kitchen! We never thought about it as a business, we just enjoyed doing it. Well, we catered that first event and from there, someone else contacted us for another, and before we knew it, we were caterers!! We got our credentials in line and fulfilled all the requirements for starting a catering business. In 2011, Catering Couple, LLC was born! We kept the business as a “side gig” through the years, only catering events on the weekends when requested, sort of like a hobby. We shared a commercial kitchen with other companies and booked it only when we had events. Fast forward to 2019, that commercial kitchen shut down and we were forced to find another location where we can continue catering. We came upon a location that was available at the time and decided to get it.This location has the space for a kitchen like we needed and the and potential for a takeout restaurant as well. So, in December of 2019, we became a takeout restaurant and catering company! Located in the little town of Intercession City, Florida now sits our catering company where we offer curbside pickup for takeout food! My husband no longer drives trucks, he’s running the restaurant full time. I am still working as a nurse until we build a foundation strong enough for me not to have to. Speaking of nursing, that same young lady whose Quinceañera we catered in 2010, got married in 2020 and we had the privilege of being her caterers once again! We have built such a great reputation as a catering company. We have nothing but 5-star reviews on Google! We are very proud of what we have accomplished so far and look forward to what’s to come!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been somewhat of a smooth road for us. Some of the struggles we have faced happened during the transition to the new location, especially with the pandemic. Trying to build the clientele was also a struggle because even though we had been catering for many years prior to moving, we now had to focus on a different client base for takeout. What has helped us are the customers from past events that know us and have followed us to this new location, and we continue building from there.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are caterers. We specialize in Latin, American, and Italian food for all types of events. We are most proud of the reputation we have built over the years. What sets us apart from others is our customer service. We strive to exceed our customers’ expectations at each and every event with our attention to detail, professional staff and excellent service. We also use quality ingredients in our food and make our own sauces!

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Regardless of whether you view yourself as a risk-taker or not, we’d love to hear your perspective on how you think about risk. Since we started the company as a part-time gig, we didn’t really take a lot of risks initially as hardly any out-of-pocket money was required and we continued to build from each event. What became a risk was when we decided to open the takeout restaurant, especially since this all happened right before the pandemic hit. Implementing all of the restrictions while trying to stay afloat was very challenging.  To have a brick-and-mortar is completely different from just being an entity. My husband quit truck driving which was a huge loss income-wise, so that was another risk.  But owning a small business is a risk in and of itself, nevertheless we will continue working hard and doing what we love!

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