We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Bryson and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Michelle, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
Giving gifts makes me happy, as it is the way that I like to show love. I find cooking food a gift, and I love sharing it with others. Seeing peoples reaction when being delivered a meal or eating it at a catering event and seeing their reaction to the food, is the best compliment or feedback that I could ever receive. Food truly brings people together, so if I can share that gift with people, and bring them together to socialize, bond and create memories, then I feel like I have succeed and that makes me one happy girl. I love to make people happy, and food makes people happy, so when you cook with love, people will be taste it and be happy people…which is what the world needs! My dog Mona May Cuaresma Bryson also makes me very happy, because who doesn’t love dogs?! 🙂
What should our readers know about your business?
Well, this business has been very up and down and hasn’t been easy, but I have tried my best to make it work for myself. There was a lot of trial and error in the beginning, but as time has gone by, a lot of lessons have been learned and I have learned what works for me in this business. I started off a bit disorganized and did not really take care of my administrative duties, so I learned the hard way when it came to that, which wasn’t the funnest lesson but a great and important lesson learned. Since then, I have made it a point to stay active on those duties so I do not fall behind. I have learned about what the consumers expectations may be, and try my best to go above and beyond that for them to ensure the best service possible. I take the initiative to know certain things clients like and dislike, take requests and even throw in some special goodies on birthdays and holidays for clients. I like to take the extra time to really getting to know my clients outside of their food likes and build a bond with them. That is very important to me and my business, Good Eats and Sweet Treats.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend was coming into town to visit the area, I would for sure recommend them to hit up some breweries. San Diego has so many great breweries all over the place but I would recommend checking out some in North Park for a great selection of places to drink, and so many hot spots for food too! I would start off at Belching Beaver, head to Poor House, grab a burger at The Friendly, check out Fall Brewery, take a nice walk over the El Zarape or Bahn Thai and finish the day on the roof top of Kairoa Brewing Company. I would recommend having Sunday brunch at Cody’s La Jolla, which is my favorite brunch spot, grab a coffee or tea at The Living Room and then walk down to the cove and check out the sea lions. It makes for a great Sunday and a beautiful place to soak in that San Diego weather.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Tara Konitshek, owner of Tara Heather Cake Design, has been a great colleague of mine and helped guide me to start up Good Eats and Sweet Treats a few years ago. Tara gave me great advice of how to start things up, recommendations of where to buy products, and has just been a great friend and a supporter of mine. I have helped her with several projects and have learned so much from her. My family plays a very important roll in my life and business and have helped me so much along the way in my success. It really has been a family affair, to my husband helping me prep for caterings, to my sister and her husband helping at events, my brother and his girlfriend marketing, my niece who is head of research and development and my parents giving me constant support and feedback. They have all been with me every step of the way and have continued to inspire me to create new recipes and explore new things in the culinary world.
Website: https://www.goodeatsandsweettreats.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelle.cuaresma.cooks/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodEatsandSweetTreatsCo/
Image Credits
Taylor Abeel Bruce Willey