Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Cruz
Hi Olivia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Our story begins 2019, when we started selling food in the neighborhood in Koreatown, we started off by selling individual food plates and desserts. We could have never imagined the welcoming of our neighborhood by accepting our food. That same year we were offered the opportunity to cater for another small business owner. With very little equipment but with a great amount of desire to grow and with experience of more than 34 years combined in the restaurant industry we undertook this voyage. The event was a success and it opened the doors to more events to come. In 2021 we moved out the High Dessert, an environment very different from Los Angeles, where we planned to further expand and design our company logo and motto. In May 2022 Mōlli Catering Services was born. In Nahuatl Mōlli, means Mole, a staple dish that represents Mexican cuisine and our roots as Mexican originating from Oaxaca and my husband from Michoacan. We specialize in authentic Mexican cuisine made traditionally and from scratch. We offer our clients a culinary journey of Mexico through our cuisine, we take them back to their roots by indulging in our guisados and antojitos. We offer buffet style catering where we showcase our cuisine in cazuelas de barro (traditional mexican clay pots) which sit on top of anafres to keep warm and provide an appealing food table setup to match our mouth watering guisados. Since our official branding we have continued to uphold our attention to detail and continue to provide all our clients with quality products, presentation and authentic cuisine, every time trying to improve to continue to have satisfied customers and have them recommend us to future clients.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There were plenty of challenges along the way, as initially stated when we had just started we had very little to no room in our apartment, we did not have the right tools to work efficiently nor the capitol to invest in our business. Hence our move to the high dessert. Moving to the high dessert presented a new challenge in itself. All our clientele was base out in Los Angeles, we were not familiar with the area or our potential clients in our neighborhood. To combat this obstacle we got a hold of new entrepreneurs trying to make a name for themselves or expose their business to their surrounding communities, and held a kermes where we showcased some of the local businesses and our authentic mexican cuisine. From this kermes we were able to network with other business owners and got our very first client. Our first event was a success everyone loved our food and presentation, which led to more recommendations and would ultimately lead to a signed contract. As we gained traction and recognition the new challenge was how to transport all of materials and keep our food hot to serve to our clients as we were transporting all our good our of our family suv. We had to purchase Cambro hot boxes to ensure a quality hot meal, and searched high and low for our new workhorse van la prieta (ford E-350). The following challenges were quite pleasing as our customer base grew so did our events, no longer were we only catering for 40-6o guests, we had started getting booked for event of 100, 150, 200 and even 250. Along the way we had to expand our equipment to be able to provide for the expansion of demand and work more efficiently.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Having worked more than 34 years combined in the restaurant industry gives us an edge, because we have been able to see what worked and what hasn’t worked in our past employment opportunities. Also it has engraved a work ethic which contributes to our attention to detail and quality of goods and service as well. By providing our clients with these three qualities, we are able to provide a service that our clients will not forget and keep his guest talking of how wonderful our food truly is. By providing a quality of service we have been able to reach more and more clients this way.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
our desire to keep on growing, our desire to keep on learning, our desire to provide for our children, and perhaps even to leave a legacy for them to keep on growing, and for them to be able to truly appreciate their heritage through our Authentic mexican cuisine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mollicalifornia.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/molli.california
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/molli.california/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@Molli.California
