Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael Volz.
Rachael, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Born and raised in Houston, I come from a family of entrepreneurs and creative individuals. From a young age, I have always been self-driven and competitive by nature, so entrepreneurship always seemed like a natural path for me. After graduating from Loyola University in New Orleans with a degree in public relations, I landed my dream job at A Fare Extraordinaire, where I began learning the ends and outs of the catering and event design business. I am a big believer in working hard for something you want, so I went from answering the phones and managing front of the house operations to quickly moving to the events/production side of the business. During this time, my work certainly began to feel like much more than a job. I developed an emotional connection with my colleagues and my clients and viewed their successes as my success – whether it was the career goals of colleagues or the event visions for clients, I thrived on turning their dreams into reality!
After much consideration, and good timing, I transitioned to co-owner in 2010 before accomplishing my dream of fully acquiring the company in 2014. I was lucky to take over the reins of a company with a very solid foundation and reputation for the work we do and, since then, I have focused on developing creative solutions to implement a company culture that focuses on employee growth and achievement. By focusing on building a culture that rewards the hard work and dedication required to pull off our events, we continue to impress our clients (and ourselves!) from one event to the next.
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 has definitely not always been a smooth road, but I try to look at “obstacles” or “challenges” as the path we were meant to take in order to learn a valuable lesson. Being a mother of two young boys and with many of my employees being working parents, there are always challenges in finding a healthy work-life balance.
Before I became a mom, I was able to dedicate 110 percent of my time and energy to growing my company, but that changed once I had kids. As someone who believes in giving my all to everything I do, I had to realize that it is no longer realistic for me to “do it all” for my business and my family, which was not an easy realization to come to terms with. By leaning on my amazing support system/team at home and focusing on building a passionate, capable team at the office, I have been able to place my trust in intelligent, self-driven, and critical thinkers with a passion for people, life, and creativity. I know when I’m away from the office, the business and our clients are in fabulous hands and that peace of mind is immeasurable.
As for helping instill a healthy work-life balance atmosphere for my employees, I am a firm believer in leading by example. As previously mentioned, many of my employees are working parents and I recognize that it isn’t enough for me to encourage them to leave the office early for a soccer game or personalize their schedules so they can drop their children off at school before coming to the office. For them to feel truly comfortable with this flexibility, it is important for them to also see me doing these things as a working mom. I may not be able to sit down at dinner every night with my family, but if I’m unable to attend something, I always try to make up for it the next day by spending extra quality time in the morning, at lunch or during a special play date with my boys.
I’ve learned throughout this process that these parameters and balance aren’t just important for me to set as a working mom, but also a business owner who sets the tone and expectations for my team.
A Fare Extraordinaire – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
A Fare Extraordinaire is a luxury, full-service catering, event planning and design company dedicated to providing unmatched service to each client. From intimate dinner parties and milestone celebrations to glamorous weddings and large-scale galas, our team executes more than 500 events a year. No matter how small the detail, ensuring the event-planning needs of each client are met is the top priority for every member of our team. For our clients, the goal is an unforgettable party. For our “moment makers” at A Fare Extraordinaire, the goal is to ensure each client is able to “embrace life’s moments” at their special event.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I would say the thing I am most proud of is the relationships that are built between my team and our clients. At A Fare Extraordinaire we like to call ourselves “moment makers” because when working with clients, the goal is to create a relationship so deep that our team becomes a part of each client’s family and is included in all the most important milestones of their lives.
I am also so proud of my amazing team and the beautiful work they produce to create special moments for each of our clients. We recently received national recognition from CaterSource as the recipient of its 2017 ACE (Achievement in Catering and Events) Best Event award, which recognizes companies who have shown exemplary achievements in the catering and events industries. It was our first ACE award and a moment I’ll never forget!
Contact Info:
- Address: 2035 Marshall Street, Houston, Texas 77098
- Website: www.afehouston.com
- Phone: 7135278288
- Email: eventinfo@afehouston.com
Image Credit:
Brandy Stoesz Photography, Jeff Gilmer Photography, Rachel Stubbe Photography, Ashleigh Amoroso Photography
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