Hey Steemians! I own a mobile wood fired pizza catering business in the Chicagoland area. I’ve had my business since 2011 and have learned a lot about the challenges of the food industry. To own a successful catering business you need to wear many hats. First and foremost you have to be a good cook, then you need to know how to deal with customers and employees. On the business side, you need to be good at bookkeeping, advertising, and cost control. Then if the business becomes profitable you could delegate those positions to other people, but until then it is critical to make the right decisions.
My background is in finance, accounting and construction management. I decided to switch gears and follow my interest in food, so I took culinary classes for two years at Kendall College in Chicago while also raising 3 kids at home ages 9 to 14. Kendall taught me the basics of cooking in a commercial kitchen and also gave me the confidence to open my own catering business. With only 2 years of classes and the lack of hands-on experience in the culinary industry, I was limited in what I could do in the field so I set out to find a niche to focus on. While googling for a research project for one of my culinary classes I learned about wood fired pizza ovens. I was so inspired by this concept that I ordered a mobile wood-fired oven made from materials imported from Italy built by an expert in the field. I spent months practicing recipes and teaching myself how to cook with a wood-fired oven. It’s not as easy as it looks without knowing a few tricks of the trade. Now almost 8 years later I can cater an event for 150 people with ease.
My page on Steemit is called “Cookit” because I plan to share all the knowledge that I’ve learned of the food industry. I think it’s important to share not only the cooking side, but also the business and professional sides associated with owning a business in the food industry. Because I’ve had to wear so many hats to make this business work, I plan to share everything with the Steemit community, here’s some examples of what to expect from me on 
- Delicious Recipes
- Cooking Tutorials
- An Insider Look at my Catering Business
- Behind-the-Scenes of Specific Catering Events
- Management
- Restaurant operating
- Bookkeeping
- And more!
Thank you for stopping by! I look forward to sharing, teaching and learning with all you fellow Steemians!