Hey Steemit Community Saucy Girl here!
I was a little busy last week. I am trying a new thing which is throwing in my hat into the vlogging community. For those who know me from my last blogs, they know already that I am from the great city of New Orleans. Sometimes known as the City That Care Forgot. That last phrase has two meanings . 1 is that did the rest of the US forget about N.O. and treat it like the bastard red-headed stepchild? or 2. Forget about your worries and come to New Orleans. I choose the latter. The Big Easy is another one, which says it all.
Great food is the main attraction to most travelers, besides the architecture and walking down Bourbon Street with an alcoholic beverage without the cops harassing anyone. (that is to be determined now after Cerveza Sickness) Tasty foods is what brings my new venture to video blogging. I have a degree in journalism, and lately I am finding using this degree more and more.
It has been almost 20 years since I have been on the air at the local radio station and worked behind the scenes at television stations, meanwhile trying to become a freelance writer for the local free news periodicals, selling my stories of 500 words or greater for $21. Yes $21, you read that correctly. I once had to write a bunch, take lots of my free time, driving to interviews, taking photos with a point and click film camera. All my then potential stories were on my dime. I paid for the driving, gas, film development, printing of my own stories on an ink jet printer, sometimes coffee or tea at the then small coffee house. BC Starbucks. At one time I had written 5 stories only 2 were chosen to go to print. It was a tough gig.
I decided to quit the journalism thing when I started working parties for co-workers at a home health agency. I was hired by the agency to become a Physician Liaison, which is a fancy word for "marketer". Back then, Medicare gave money to home health agencies and it was not "legal" to have a salesperson or marketer on the books. That's how Physician Liaison became a position. I did pretty much everything a drug rep would do; go out and meet with the doctors, case workers in hospitals and build a quota for the company of having new referrals, aka patients. I learned how to do "in-services" which is another fancy term for business luncheon. Lunch with a lecture about the company. It was a fun job, but very demanding from the higher ups.
I really wasn't setting the world on fire, it had benefits, helped me buy my first house, did what I could for being in my late 20s. Getting back to how I got my new occupation was completely by accident. My co-workers had me working parties for them by me setting up their events, cleaning, making sure the food is hot and ready, keeping everything flowing and execute by tearing down the function. My name got passed around by the ones attending the party, another party, another contact, etc. I did my first official catering job in 1997 for the Anne Rice Halloween Ball at Tipatina's warehouse. I was dating the president of the Anne Rice Vampire Lestat Fan Club, and later down the line, he and I put on the Halloween Balls for until 2003. The baton has long been passed on, and really glad not to be putting on these huge events. It is really an undertaking, if you ever had to do put on a small festival, you know.
So my event planning picked up in 2003 when I was downsized and cut by Medicare as a dispensable worker. I was the youngest on the team, but having a job one day, newly married and a home with a mortgage, that January Tuesday, I got the ax. I got COBRA insurance and had all my benefits cut. A small severance package was given to me, but it didn't help me with expenses. I was living off my husband's benefits now, and still making ends meet by taking on what I could. I wasn't really loving the job and I saw the writing on the wall a year before my head was on the chopping block. I saw that Medicare was doing more cut-backs to jobs. I was an employee at the agency with 2 other people's jobs. I saw the doctors that I got quotas for less and less, with my time in the office doing necessary clerical work. I absolutely hated it!
I call the January 2003 one of the most enlightening times of my life. It forced me to become my own boss. It wasn't overnight. I am not one of those who is a millionaires that started with $50 and now a Juggernaut. Oh no, lots of slammed doors, no experience really, just drive. I worked for a caterer in the berbs of New Orleans who asked me what I want to do in the next 5 years. I frankly told him "I want to be your competition". He didn't really pay any mind to that, I mean I was really green. During the 2 years I worked there, up until my hand surgery in 2005, I went from someone who loaded trucks-(gaining muscle and losing weight), working parties, learning how to cook and time management and then became his assistant. His clients completely trusted me and I executed every event. I made pretty good money, but the hours were long.
I had a hand surgery that put me in a position that required me to wear a cast for 12 weeks. I was a liability to the company and secretly let go. Just a little backstory; the previous summer, I painted my Fascia and carport of my house with a retired painter while the boss took his mandatory month off. Now being laid off, I needed money and fast so I became a painter of homes and small restoration projects. Talked about slammed doors. I got one job that was literally was a "sign from God". I worked a synagogue classroom, that was completely dilapidated. Plaster falling off the walls and ceiling, needed electrical and a new floor. I worked with the retired painter and he helped me finish the job, on Saturday, August 27, 2005. TWO DAYS BEFORE HURRICANE KATRINA.
I did restorations of that caliber for about a year after Katrina hit the area. Then parishes started cracking down on permits and workmen's comp. Really, I had to shut it down because of Workmen's Comp insurance was a premium of $25,000 a year. Just ridiculous. I didn't let me it get me down. I saw another need in our area. No Restaurants were open in New Orleans or the surrounding areas. Countless crews were demolishing houses everywhere with no where to get lunch. Hmmmm. I went back into catering and made Styrofoam boxed meals with drink for $7. I had a Ford Ranger with a camper back. I used ice chests to keep already made food hot and protected and canned drinks ice cold. It was a cash business and contractors who hired illegals didn't care to shell out meals for his crew. It was a money maker for the time and I am glad I did it.
I know I am boring you with details, but in the days of quarantining, I need a friend to talk to and Steemit Community, your're it!
Saucy Girl's New Venture!! With my absentee catering, I decided to teach the public some easy and cheap meals for the family to enjoy. I jumped back into my journalism by editing video. Now it's my own. I have my partner as my cameraman. I have a great time doing the videos. I am getting the hang of it and it feels natural. I have no pretense and I am everything of what you see is what you get. I don't have the fanciest kitchen, but I feel that this could relate to most people. I want to teach cooking, and it is what I am good at doing. I think everything I mentioned in the beginning helped me become the brave person I am today.
If I can say anything about starting a new venture is that, it is scary. You have no safety nets. You will fall a bunch, end up with skinned knees and broken arms. Those things heal, you just got to stick with it. I am blessed with drive. I want to thank my father for coaching me to become my own boss. I love you, dearly Dad!
Okay everyone, break! Check out my channel on "U" Tube under Saucy Girl. Keep the love going, like and subscribe.
Saucy Girl Out!