Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Alakayi.
Hi Melissa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In the beginning, Meals By Mel started off as just a small college-life hustle of selling plates to local college students as I completed my last year at Oklahoma State. However, my love for food, cooking, and hospitality has been in my veins since a child. My older cousins would always babysit me and put on “Rachel Ray’s 30-minute meals” and from that point onward, I began to become self-sufficient in the kitchen. I grew up in a family where we were always celebrating or hosting something, so it was easy to add this concept into my food. Today, our motto: ” A Taste of Home, Away From Home” has been the seed that was sown into where the business is today. Providing remarkable comfort foods while adding value to the view of Southern-style dishes. We have fully transitioned from selling daily/weekly personal plates to a full-service catering company.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I wouldn’t say it’s been a smooth rode, but it hasn’t been a bad one either. I don’t think any level of entrepreneurship is easy, but that is the beauty of the game. You have to trust the process even when it doesn’t look like rainbows all the time. I think my best blessings came from the losses I’ve taken because its shown me what I need to work on or improve. When I decided that I wanted to shift away from selling plates, there were plenty of challenges that I began to experience. From broadening my audience developing new marketing skills, and just our overall pitch.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Meals By Mel is a full-catering service that specializes in Southern comfort foods. We offer family package meals for personal orders, we cater a wide variety of events, and we also offer intimate private dinners. We are known for our quality food and great customer service. I think what sets us apart is our authenticity and how much we have to offer as a company. You can consider us to be your one-stop-shop for food. Not only do we cater, but we offer champagne wall rentals, we have a Youtube cooking segment, and we are launching our new seasoning collection. I am proud of the brand as a whole because if you’ve watched my journey since 2016, then you can attest to the level of growth that we’ve taken with everything. I want readers to know that no job is too big or too small for our company. We are people-friendly and strive to leave you coming back for more.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I stand on being authentic in any and everything that you do. I think that characteristic is the leading reason for the growth of my business today. I always remain true to who I am and what I value when it comes to business and in this industry. The second would have to be resilience. It is something that I have tattooed on me for a reason (LOL). I believe that any successful person has to have some sort of resiliency in them because it is very challenging running a business. However, with the mindset that you can overcome anything, the sky becomes the limit.
Contact Info:
- Email: mealsbymelsassist@gmail.com
- Website: www.mealsbymelissa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mealsbymel/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MealsByMell
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgOhhilUdF2ogNLZvI144Q
Image Credits:
@shotbytony_
