Today we’d like to introduce you to Jallisa Arnold.
Hi Jallisa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first thought about the idea of starting a catering business one day after a friend and I had eaten a delicious meal I had prepared. One of those types of meals makes you want to unbutton the top button of your jeans. I said to my friend “whew girl I am so full” and from there the name of my company was created “ Sofull Catering”.
My friend and I were discussing ways to make more money, I was a social worker at the time and looking for a way out, due to the high level of stress and burnout that comes with that profession. Then my old college roommate and sorority sister reached out to me and told me she was getting married and wanted me to help her with the food. Everyone knew I could cook but I hadn’t developed my business professionally yet.
I took this opportunity as a challenge and began ordering supplies for her wedding. This wedding was a test run and further confirmed that Catering was something I wanted to do part-time. I was renting the basement apartment from my aunt and uncle at the time and saving money for a down payment on a new home. My aunt happened to be my realtor and was very supportive of my catering business.
My aunt and uncle always knew when I was downstairs cooking as my recipes would fill the home with a savory smell. I would test out signature recipes from curry chicken to lemon pound cakes, I cooked it all. The interesting part was I didn’t even have a full kitchen. I had a portable stovetop, which I purchased, and a toaster oven, but I made it work. We joke today that my catering business started out of a basement apartment. I also began renting commercial kitchen space which helped me prepare for my large-scale events.
I continued to work full-time as a social worker and legitimize my catering business. From 2016 to October of 2021, I worked full time and provided private chef services/ catering on evenings and weekends. The pandemic took a toll on healthcare social workers, I could no longer take the stress, I was burnt out and resigned from my job in October 2021 to pursue my catering business full-time after ten years of service as a social worker.
By then, I was the Director of Social Work, but titles, and money, didn’t matter… because I just wasn’t happy anymore. When I am cooking I am in my zone, it’s my true passion and it makes me happy. I am just now getting to truly know what it means to be a full-time entrepreneur. I enjoy being in charge of my own company and how I utilize my time.
I have been able to scale my company, establish a strong social media presence, build relationships with clients over the years, and grow financially. I am a home taught chef and have been cooking since I was nine years old getting lessons from my parents and grandmother on signature family recipes. My grandmother taught me that people eat with their eyes. My mom taught me how to dress food and make it appealing to the eye.
Even if she was just baking some chicken I remember her dressing the chicken with bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms, and seasoning it to perfection. My father taught me how to clean and break down meat and poultry.
My greatest memory will always be the time my father and I smoked a whole pig on his big smoker grill we stayed up all night until the pig was done and then we broke it down and chopped it up and made his signature homemade barbecue.
Cooking is such an enjoyable experience for me, and this is how I got started.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not always been a smooth road, I have faced challenges in the catering industry from finding legit commercial kitchen space to finding adequate help, especially during the pandemic. There were times during the pandemic when I had to go to several stores to find ingredients or deviate from my originally planned menu due to a lack of ingredients.
Let’s not even begin to talk about the inflation with the pricing of meat and poultry, everything is going up. It’s hard for chefs to keep their overhead low and make good profits. Everyone has been affected by the pandemic, I remember having to cancel an event because I contracted COVID-19, thank God I was asymptomatic, but it could have been worse. I hated having to break the news to my client but safety came first.
It gets hard sometimes there are days when I work myself to the bone and come home from an event tired and exhausted and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and go to bed because I’m so tired and I don’t feel like cooking for myself. I continue to wake up every day with the grace of God and continue this diligent work because of the joy it brings to my clients when they eat a delicious meal from Chef Jaye.
I love that I am able to follow my clients through their different milestones in life, from college sendoffs, to graduation marriage, and baby showers. I follow some of my clients throughout their years of celebrations and it’s a true honor.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a celebrity private chef and caterer and the owner of Sofull Catering LLC. I specialize in providing southern comfort food with a twist of Caribbean-inspired flavor. I provide private chef services in my client’s homes, I cater large-scale events like weddings or smaller events like bridal showers, I provide cooking demonstrations and classes, and I also am working on an E cookbook.
I also have a strong social media presence and my followers love when I drop cooking tips and cook live on Instagram and Facebook. I am known for my delicious seafood salad, oxtails, and butter cake! I am most proud of the time that I was invited to cater for the reality TV show cast of Ready to Love Season 6, for OWN Network. I was honored because one of the producers happened to be following me on Instagram and liked my work and emailed me to come and cook for the show.
I was so shocked and honored to cook for the cast, who loved the food! After that, I was able to interview for Food Network for a new cooking competition they were pitching. Even though I wasn’t selected as a finalist, I was just honored that I got the opportunity to be called and my name was being mentioned in rooms I could never dream of. God has shown my business favor and I am so humbled.
What do you think about happiness?
It makes me happy to provide a service to people, that they love and enjoy and come back for seconds. Service is a big part of who I am. It makes me smile, I am at peace when I do it. Any opportunity I can give back… I go for it.
Contact Info:
- Email: Sofullcateringllc@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.sofullcatering.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofullcatering/channel/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/SoFullCatering/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD3VeOiEt6jHeBAOK7GjdzQ
Image Credits
Justin Ross, Nicholas Acors, and Jallisa Arnold
