Today we’d like to introduce you to Katrina Michelle.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a Los Angeles native. I am a mother of two wonderful children, ages 21 & 16. Both of them are part of my catering business… My business was started with my family in mind. I call myself a serial entrepreneur. I started my first business in 2011 as a hospitality consultant for independent and boutique hotels. I’ve been in the hospitality industry for 29 years. It was second nature to open my catering business during the pandemic when the hotel industry was shut down. During that time I also opened a fitness business OMT Fitness by K Michelle with daily zoom workouts and weekend hiking club. After spending most of my life severely overweight in 2015, I adopted a healthy life active lifestyle. During that year, I lost 150lbs. I was known for all of my homemade meals I would post online while reporting to my followers my many weight loss updates under the advice of a close friend and regular person eating my food. They would always say people would pay to eat this good. That inspired me to start my business K Michelle’s Kitchen Catering. I made a name for myself quickly under my brand Katrina Michelle (K Michelle). I have cooked for celebrities’ events including Offset’s sneaker ball party, Kurupt press day, Soulja boy birthday party, DJ Battlecat, Sweetie, Amina Buttafly and BET. My catering company has been featured on the news for taste of soul media day. We are a small business that does events of all sizes from weekly appearances at Fr3eSpace, formerly (the savoy) Inglewood. We cater corporate, private events, brunches, private chef, meal preps and more. We have participated in pop-up events like Inglewood Jazzfest, Taste of Inglewood, Taste of Soul and Rolling Loud Inglewood.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting my consulting business 2011 was a big leap of faith for me after working on-site for many hotels starting at age 16. But I figured my knowledge was so valuable that many hotels would pay me directly to do the job of Director of Revenue Management as a home-based consultant. That gamble paid off with my business acquiring clients from choice hotels, viceroy hotel group, Malibu beach inn, the Orlando Hotel and many more with properties throughout the US including Alaska and Canada. During the pandemic, I was forced to make another leap into another business path with the hotel industry shut down during the pandemic. I started my catering business to fill in the gaps using my god-given ability to cook. As a child, my mom would take me to the library on the weekends. I was an overweight kid which also made me lazy. Instead of books with a bunch of words, I opted for cookbooks. My mom would let me pick a recipe and make whatever I wanted as a young child. As I grew up, my mom left it up to me to feed my older brother with these skills. Little did I know these skills would be so valuable today. The hardest part for me in this industry is the lack of respect of the black women business owner. I continue to strive to be the black business to be proud of with excellent service, beautiful presentation and unique flavor combinations.
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?
My goal is to have a business we as “black peoples” can be proud to support. My goal is to join forces with as many other black businesses to create the co-op that will be required for black businesses to overcome adversity. My focus is sharing business and marketing information with other black-owned businesses so that we can compete with other cultures in business. I am the person that will work alongside other caterers without recognition or even pay just to lend a hand to my fellow black business owner. I share the pages of other brands on a regular basis. I shop mostly for black small businesses from my super stylish clothing to vendors I use at my pop-up events I host with brunch. We are known for our use of fresh flowers in our displays with bold colors. Our food is American and Indian inspired. We are known for our use of curry and spices along with a blend of creole-inspired flavors. We are known for our tacos, garlic noodles, Cajun pasta, shrimp and grits and seafood dishes.
What are your plans for the future?
I would like to secure a small cafe where we can gather safely over great food, friendship and music. I have been offered assistance with securing a food truck many times but I like to be able to have a more intimate touch to be able to meet and converse with our clients. We have catered the best women’s events. We want to continue to build our brand with the culture in mind. We want to build the bridge for youth to be able to have mentors in business in the community. We want to help the next generation learn how to be entrepreneurs and great business owners. We take pride in our customer service which is oftentimes lacking in small businesses. We have started our nonprofit K Michelle Cares to begin our mentor program. Growing up I had great female role models. As I grew up, I always picked out mentors to learn from rather than learning from the streets. This carried over into my work career.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.KMichellekitchencatering.com
- Instagram: Kmichelles_kitchencatering
- Facebook: K Michelle’s Kitchen Catering
- Other: https://linktr.ee/kmichellekitchencatering
