Mary Fabrikant is the founder and executive chef for Canteen Catering, a Denver-based kosher caterer that puts into practice some yummy ideals: creativity, variety, beauty, fresh ingredients and that all-important (yet sometimes elusive) ingredient, flavor. Fabrikant was recently inducted into the Johnson & Wales Culinary Arts Alumni Success Board, an honor granted to only one alumni member at each JWU each year.
Here’s Mary Fabrikant’s True Calling™ Success Story:
When the tech bubble burst in 2002, I found myself looking for another job within my industry as a tech engineer. A lot of other people like me were laid off, and we were all scrambling for new jobs within the industry. I got paired up with Nathan Teegarden to help me through the transition, and something unexpected happened.
Nathan simply asked me: “Is there anything else you want to do? Anything in another field?” I always wanted to go to chef school. We started talking about it, and I told him that I didn’t just want to be a chef — but that I wanted to start a catering business because I wanted to choose my work hours and have more flexibility for my family. My business, Canteen Catering, is the result of that first conversation. Now — nine years later — it has grown into a successful catering business with three different divisions.
Canteen Catering started as a school-based operation where I began a lunch program. I still use this kitchen, but now Canteen Catering does much more than school lunches. We have a barbecue division that focuses on providing catering for summer picnics and barbecues, and we also have a division called La Vie that specializes in high-end social catering, predominantly weddings.
Nathan helped me develop Canteen Catering in both its early and growth phases. Early on, he advised me to find a good accountant and a good lawyer. This was important advice because I focused on the cooking at the beginning and needed specialists to help me with these aspects of my new business.
After three to four years of running Canteen Catering, I went back to Nathan for help working through some employee problems I was having. I had turned from a chef into someone who needed to manage employees, and this wasn’t anything I had done before. I simply expected my employees to be professional and to do a good job, and I didn’t know what to do when they failed to do that. Nathan helped me see the big picture when I was stuck in the details of the situation, and this opened up another new area for my business.
Nathan is an incredible listener — and his skill in hearing people extends beyond that too. He first heard my desire to be a chef — and then he listened to the new set of challenges that came up for me after I had achieved that. As a chef and caterer, I want a meal to be a whole experience. I want the food to nourish a person’s body and soul. In a way, Nathan’s approach is like that too — he started advising me through the details of a job transition, but after nine years, he’s seen me through a whole lot more.
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