Areas of Expertise:   Business Planning, Funding, Management, Food Industry

My Experience:      

I left 7 years of medical/surgical sales with Medline to discover food was my passion.

After 11 winemaker dinners as executive chef for The Fish Tale in Long Beach, I joined Bennigan’s, a nation chain. I trained in their Texas headquarters, learning operations, costing and budget forecasting. I returned to work with the 8 locations in CA to improve training, service and costs. After 6 years, I was recruited by Koo Koo Roo Restaurants to develop sales as well as new directions into catering and specialty sales promotions  which resulted in the opening of 24 stores.

How I Add Value to your Business:

When the chain was sold, I started my own SoCal custom catering company. For 23 years, along with my two partners, we became the first operating franchisees of Blaze Pizza in Irvine. After retiring from being a Blaze Pizza franchisee, I restarted my catering company which led to joining the SBDC as a consultant in 2017. The opportunity to impart my experiences and advise others starting their food based business is a rewarding extension to my career in food. I am the lead consultant for the SBDC EATS program and can help you with restaurant development and operations, labor and costs to profit management. Let’s chat!

Words of Wisdom:

Friends buy from friends, make as many as you can every day.

Education