Today we’d like to introduce you to Vartan Dinkjian.
Vartan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Like many people, I had my start working in food service at McDonald’s in 1998 where I learned how to speak multiple languages (specifically Bengali, Vietnamese, and Spanish) from my co-workers and know the value of a hard-earned dollar. I was so determined to save up for my first car that I literally did not spend anything to be able to save $10,000 after four years of saving. Over time, I decided to apply for a job at Subway which was a lot closer to home and within a year, I was promoted to manager given all the skills and trade I learned from the golden arches. There, I was supervising 14 employees, started to speak Spanish fluently, and significantly decreased staff turnover rate given my outgoing personality. People liked me a lot, I would say. Most of my customers came to visit specifically to just chat with me as I handed them their usual to-go sandwiches. As I got older, I gained additional experience working at a pharmaceutical company, bank, and even the U.S. Department of Homeland Security working as a Transportation Security Officer. I did the whole training in screening computer-based IED and passed the Practical Skills Exams, got certified with on screen alarm resolution protocol, explosives trace detection, computer tomography x-ray machines and the like. This all sounds fancy, but I always found my way to have a foot in the door at foodservice, where I felt I enjoyed working with a different kind of crowd, which led me to take on a part-time job at another popular restaurant in Virginia called Mike’s American Grill and Chevy’s Fresh American Grill.
However, for the most part, I have to give credit for the time I spent working at the Carlyle Club in Alexandria, Virginia given that I pretty much crushed the restaurant’s daily sales goals and gained a ton of skills in organizing the kitchen flow for food run, and coordinating new banquet setups for weddings, concerts, and corporate parties. I moved to Los Angeles, California in 2014 and got married to my now wife of seven years (who was originally from California) and she got me into working as a server and bartender for a local hospitality staffing company which was the first thing available that came up immediately. After about a year of noticing some things I didn’t like about this company (e.g., staff being mistreated, underpaid, wrongfully terminated, and not properly compensated for meals and breaks), I made the move to just start my own hospitality staffing company and here I am now – blessed and grateful to lead and be the CEO of Top Notch Staffing, Inc. Since starting this company, I now have over 500 employees dedicated to work at multiple (some high-profiled) events all of Southern California.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
To my surprise, starting a company seemed daunting with all the paperwork we needed to put in place, but I can honestly say, I was able to single-handedly get through obtaining my general liability insurance, workers compensation, payroll generated, and making the company an S Corporation with much guidance from my accountant and legal advisor. I took the risk and used a majority of my savings to start this company and I have no regrets about giving life to Top Notch Staffing, Inc. My wife taught me (and reminds me every day) to be proud of these accomplishments and ignore the naysayers who always seem surprised that I have come this far in life. I had no financial help from anyone, not even my wife, who I know would’ve supported me, but I can proudly say I was able to stand this one up independently. The company started to take off with so many events and staff working every day, but the pandemic in 2020 changed everything for our company.
If anything, the hospitality industry was hit the hardest during the pandemic and we literally went from events and staffing every day to no events for the past year and a half. I have never felt so depressed and down to see something that I have been so passionate about and something that I have been building for this community and for my staff see it come to a complete halt with diminished revenue and income to support the staff that still needed work. I had applied for loans and grants and I couldn’t believe how bad all the small businesses were hit this past year. To overcome all of this, we had to pivot and get creative to start asking our chef and bakers to create new things to support the foodservice side. Servers and bartenders unfortunately had to be on unemployment. So slowly but surely, we started some mini food deliveries just to sustain the general expenses we needed to maintain. During this time, we had temporarily closed our offices, laid staff off, and we had to just wait until it was our turn to re-open. As you know, many venues and hospitality staffing businesses were shuttered because of the pandemic. With the recent re-opening, we have never been more ready to get everyone’s parties started. You have no idea how much of a blessing it has been recently to hear the phones ring again, staff gear up for work, and to hear excitement in people’s voices to have us be a part of their big celebrations.
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?
Today, we are happy to share that we are back up and running and many folks are ready to party! Top Notch Staffing, Inc. is rated five stars on google and is California’s premier staffing agency for foodservice and all hospitality industries, providing our clients with connections to amazing food and professional people for temporary, part-time and full-time assignments.
Top Notch Staffing, Inc. provides:
• Staffed dressed in professional attire
• Efficient banquet servers (set-up and clean-up crew)
• Talented and experienced bartenders
• Food/bar runners
• Captains
• Chefs / line cooks / prep cooks
• Food truck chefs/cooks
• Dishwashers and scullery
All staff are trained and certified to handle food and beverages. Top Notch Staffing, Inc. is fully covered by workman’s compensation and general liability insurance. If you’ve got a wedding, birthday, bar/bat mitzvah, funeral, university event, anniversaries, luncheons, receptions, corporate events, festivals, food trucks, backyard parties, galas, fundraisers and more, look no further to get the best service from Top Notch Staffing, Inc. No matter what your budget is, Top Notch Staffing, Inc. is here to work with you so you can sit back, relax and enjoy your party. Let us make your load lighter!
We also provide catering alongside Los Angeles’s finest Executive Chef, Danny Estrada, where we bring a variety of cuisine and menu choices for all types of occasions.
Corporate parties: At Top Notch Catering, we know that you come to us because of the shared understanding that feeding your company and clients delicious, farm-to-table foods shows them just how much you value them.
On-site grilling and cooking: We cook in the parking lot of office buildings, front or back yards, construction sites, venues you rented, or any other location for all that matter.
Special events: Got a large event you’re planning for like a wedding and need the perfect appetizers and meal? We got your back! We can create custom menus, work within budgets, and accommodate any request.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
So I operate two businesses – Top Notch Staffing, Inc. and Top Notch Catering. We also have a sister company called Dessert Me Pretty (www.dessertmepretty.com). Dessert Me Pretty provides full-service dessert table dressings and decorations as well as some of the actual dessert goods.
Also, most people don’t know that we are a full-service catering company. The launch of our catering side has been delayed because of the pandemic and so this August 2021, we are planning an official grand opening of Top Notch Catering in Glendale, California. We are happy to provide a pre-set menu for all types of cuisines or help clients customize their palate to suit the right vibe of their event. However, you don’t have to wait until August to plan a catering event with us. Feel free to contact us directly so that we can provide you with a quote of our services.
Contact Info:
- Email: vartan@topnotchstaffingca.com
- Website: www.topnotchstaffingca.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/topnotchstaffinginc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/topnotchstaffingca
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/topnotchstaffca
- Other: www.dessertmepretty.com
