Today we’d like to introduce you to Maya Rotman-Zaid.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Maya. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started as a chef. I went to Culinary school at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in Philadelphia. I came home to Chicago to be part of a bigger, better culinary world. I worked at hotels, country clubs, small restaurants, wine bars and more. I was able to see a large variety of operations and inner workings. I became an executive chef at 26 yrs. old. I got to create and try new menu items and recipes every day. I was given an opportunity to partner in a startup restaurant with a friend of mine about 1 year later, so I jumped at the chance. We opened up an Asian Fusion restaurant the following year. I went on to open 7 additional startup restaurants as a consultant from French Bistro to American upscale. I was given an opportunity to be a front of house manager at a Prime Steakhouse, and I took the role. Within 6 months I moved up to General Manager, at 29 yrs. old. I was also given the roll of Event Manager and Social Media Director for the restaurant. Over the next 2.5 years we grew the event business by 33% and the sales by 41%.
In that time I got married and was pregnant with my 1st child. I took off 5 months after she was born and was a stay-at-home mom for a while, but my love of food and the industry brought me back.
I was a General Manager of a Bistro for about 1 year, but the hours were long and late, I chose to explore another route within the industry. I started working for a company as an outside catering Sales Manager handling mostly corporate business. After 6 months I grew the sales 400% and added offsite wedding catering to the mix. I really enjoyed my job and planning special life moment events, like weddings.
I moved to another catering company as the Director of Sales/Marketing to grow. This was a startup catering company. I was able to triple the sales in less than 6 months, but I still felt like I was working under someone else’s vision, someone else’s rules. I was ready to do things my way. I was ready to BE the change.
I started my own catering company June 27, 2017. We have blasted through all of our sales projections and made a name for ourselves in the industry. BellaRu Catering is 100% woman owned and operated. We hire lots of moms, whether single, married or ethnic, we are a strong group of ladies working together to make people’s dreams come true. My vision is that I can do anything with a little creativity.
We have just passed our 1 year of operations and everyone is excited for what is next.
I can’t wait to see what the future holds in the 2nd year and beyond…
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s never a straight line. There are always curves and bumps in the road.
When I started BellaRu Catering we were working out of a shared rental kitchen space, this in itself posed a few bumps for us. We had to keep all of our service ware items in a storage unit a few blocks away. The days became incredibly long for everyone because we had to go back and forth most of the day.
We have gotten to events and the rentals were not what we ordered or we didn’t get enough linens for each table. I always find a way to make it work and make it look 200% like it was meant to be that way. You just have to get creative.
It’s not about how smooth the road is though, it’s about how you take those bumps!!!
Please tell us about BellaRu Catering.
BellaRu Catering is a boutique catering company which means we specialize in custom menus, authentic or fusion worldly cuisine and great customer service.
The sky is the limit when it comes to food for an event. Each event is unique and I love being able to add some of the hosts personality to each meal. We have executed menus that include cuisine from Ghana, Pakistan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Italy, Greece and more. My team of chef’s never knows what they are going to get when they look at the week’s menus. The love the challenge of new cuisine because they have the stage to be creative.
I also help with a wide variety of additional services such as rentals, linens, bar service, specialty services to make each event unique, help with planning and execution of events.
I’m the idea maker. I’m the “make it happen” person. There is nothing we can’t or shouldn’t try. I try to inspire my team to love their lobs everyday as much as I do. I handle all of the pre-planning and execution of each large event. I am on-site at each wedding to make sure the couple and guests are happy and having a great time. I hand pick staff for each event because each event needs a different type of TLC.
I am so proud to see the growth and strength of everyone on my team. We have come a long way in 1 year, and they are all looking at what’s next for BellaRu Catering.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Baking with my dad and my sister when my mom was out of town for work. We would end up with flour ALL over the kitchen, but we had a great time doing it.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1480 Old Deerfield Rd, unit 1,2,3
Highland Park, IL 60035 - Website: www.bellarucatering.com
- Phone: 847-461-3995
- Email: maya@bellarucatering.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maya.bellarucatering/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bellarucatering/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BellaruC
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