Member Spotlight

How did you get your start in the industry?
Becoming a student at SDSU Payne School of Hospitality
and Tourism management. That is when I also started to
work at Artistic Florals.

What is a typical day like for you?
Most days I go to class or do class work. I also attend many
of the professional events at the Payne school meeting
professionals in the industry. Over the last few months I
have also been busy working at Artistic Florals doing
Holiday displays and helping with some floral design work.

What do you enjoy most about MPI? I like that I have the
opportunity to network outside of school with people that are
currently working in the industry.

What is the best career advice you’ve received?
Try to be involved as much as you can and always be open
to learning more.

What’s your favorite tip for someone in our industry?
I haven't had many opportunities to give tips to others being
so new to the industry myself but if I would pass on a tip I
would say to be open to change and others ideas.
Sometimes putting what you think is going to work best to
the side and hearing what another idea could help a lot and
make things go a lot smoother.

What do you love most about your MPI Chapter?
I love how kind everyone is. Going to my first in person event
in December I felt very welcomed by everyone I had
conversation with.

How did you get your start in the industry? I always wanted to be a lawyer or an EMT, but being deaf presented challenges in school; I wasn’t interested in the many years of training required for those fields. When I was in college, I helped a friend in a hotel kitchen and fell in love and thought, being deaf and working in the back kitchen and not have to deal with people? Sounds great! After years of evolution, I grew to love working in front of people and interact with people! Ironic?!

What is a typical day like for you? Honestly, I can’t start my day without a quick Starbucks run, but mostly I spend all morning catching up on a huge list of emails, then typically have a team huddle then move on to some business development and hustle to create my dream into reality a bit every day!

What do you enjoy most about MPI? Food and cocktails while socializing! Actually meeting new industry friends and learning about how we can help each other and support the local community to grow stronger!

What is the best career advice you’ve received? Many years ago, I met the catering “Guru,” Michael Roman, who created Catersource! I was so nervous to meet him but decided to approach him and bought his book and said, ‘can you sign my book and chat with me a little bit about me being deaf and the catering challenges I face and how to overcome all the pity and sympathy I receive!’ His response, ‘who cares if you are deaf or not, you are treated the same and you can do whatever anyone else can do!’ Ever since he trained and guided me, it helped mold and shape who I became! I wouldn’t be who I am today if I didn’t meet Michael Roman!

What’s your favorite tip for someone in our industry? Spread the love in the community and work together instead of being cutthroat, there is enough business out there for each of us! Since the pandemic started, I became closer with all the caterers that I considered my enemies/major competition before; now I love my enemies (Laughing out loud)!

What do you love most about your MPI Chapter? Networking & the support from the industry partners!

email: matthew@FeastOnThis.com
Instagram: @feastonthiscatering (Business) @chefmatthewbaker (Personal)
I try to put some behind the scenes on my personal IG. 😊
Facebook: Feast on This Catering & Special Events
LinkedIn: Feast on This Culinary & Event Production

What is your daily morning routine: Starbucks Run! (priorities!) Team huddle! Email catch ups!

What do you prefer to eat for lunch everyday? What ever Chef decides to make (LOL). He always surprises me with lunch! When Chef isn’t around, I go for protein bar or chick-fil-a! Whatever is faster! 😉

What do you like to do for fun? Spending my time with my 21 month old son! Travel when I can!

What do you enjoy most about MPI? Meeting new friends! Enjoying sampling all fun foodies and cocktails at monthly events!

What do you do for work? No idea, kidding…. Run a full production catering company! Little bit of everything involved with catering, sales, production and business development.

Little fact here:

What’s unique about Feast on This? We are the only Deaf-owned catering company in California! This is really special because I created this company with the ideals that all of my other senses are magnified, which translates into everything we do: impeccable taste, high quality ingredients, enchanting scents and beautiful presentation!

Our core values are essential to our events AND our day-to-day operations:

F: Family, E: Excellence, A: Attitude, S: Sharing, T: Transformation! That is what brings our company to an elevated level of expectations! Check out some of our recent blogs that highlight how covid has transformed out business and some other fun seasonal offerings! https://feastonthis.com/blog/

We are not just the stereotypical caterer that just provides food: we provide an EXPERIENCE! Our standard set-up uniform is a shirt that says “Feast Mode” which is always a conversation starter! We also have limited edition ASL shirts that spell “Feast” in American Sign Language. We do wear purple converse to match our brand! We focus on FOOD QUALITY/EXPERIENCE and CUSTOMER SERVICE. Ask any of our clients and they will tell you the same!

An example of how we are unique is our Tomato Caprese. The standard: tomato, olive oil and basil. That’s it. Simple and everyone does it that way. How are we different? We turn it into an action station that starts with heirloom tomatoes then a choice of infused olive oil (such as white peach or jalapeño) then a choice of an infused balsamic vinegar (such as blackberry or 30+ year aged) and finish it off with fun micro basil herb and a dash of a unique salt such as black lava salt, grey sea salt or pink Himalayan salt! Want to hear even more about why Feast is so unique? I love to meet people, I don’t bite! Let’s meet for great coffee or wine, or my favorite, a good ol’ fashioned whiskey? I am not shy; please come and find me (I’ll even teach you a few words in ASL)!

How long have you been a member of MPI? 6 months!

How did you get your start in the industry? I was very involved in high school spirit days and dances. My counselor recommended I go into event planning!

What is a typical day like for you? Zoom school has been very interesting. Listening in on webinars, reading a chapter a day of books, and lots of playtime with my puppy!

What do you enjoy most about MPI? There are a wide variety of resources available no matter what stage of your career you are in.

What is the best career advice you’ve received? Your career will not be vertical. Sometimes you are going to take some side steps and get out of your comfort zone in order to achieve your goals.

What’s your favorite tip for someone in our industry? Get yourself out there and try something you don’t want to do because you might end up loving it!

What do you love most about your MPI Chapter? They are always engaging and fun!

How long have you been a member of MPI? One month, but I have gone to many MPI events as a non-member.

How did you get your start in the industry? Like so many us, I started in the industry as a server. My first job was working at my college restaurant. I fell in love with this crazy industry and worked my way up to event sales, group sales and event planning.

What is a typical day like for you? As an independent planner that is self-employed, I get the luxury of not having a typical day. Depending on the time of the year, I am out on the road working events all over the country, working out of hotel rooms, lobbies, airport terminals or anywhere that has an electric outlet.

What do you enjoy most about MPI? I really enjoy the education that MPI provides. I love learning and having so many different topics I have an interest in available to me is great! 

What is the best career advice you’ve received? A friend of mine recently said this to me and it has become essential in my every day. Take passion breaks “When you are a creative, inspiration comes in waves. When it hits you, you give everything towards what you are doing because you're passionate about it. You can't keep that fire fueled forever and you have to take breaks to build up creative inspiration again (passion break), until you save up enough energy for when the next bit of inspiration hits and you're ready to bring the passion” -Fiona Buckley

What’s your favorite tip for someone in our industry? Do everything, work at different venues, change roles, work in a different state or country. Doing so challenges you and is one of the best ways to take control of your professional development.

What do you love most about your MPI Chapter? The community hands down! Every member is here is help you grow and want to see you succeed.

How long have you been a member of MPI?

A couple of months.

How did you get your start in the industry?

After high school I worked a summer job at the Hotel Del Coronado, which was really my first exposure.  A few years later I moved back home to San Diego, after some time living in Budapest, Hungary, and entered the world of Audio Visuals.

What is a typical day like for you?

Right now everything is anything but typical, but my team and I remain focused on various activities related to identifying and developing products and solutions that solve problems.

What do you enjoy most about MPI?

The people and the amount of resources available.

What is the best career advice you’ve received?

Look for what can be done better, and find a way to do it better.

What’s your favorite tip for someone in our industry?

Make sure to enjoy your work and find the best people to work alongside.

What do you love most about your MPI Chapter? 

I hope to have a good answer to this question soon!

How long have you been a member of MPI?
Less than a year.

How did you get your start in the industry?
I got my internship at Cebu Plaza Hotel in the Philippines which is now Marco Polo Hotels.

What is a typical day like for you? 
I’m a working mom and wife. In the mornings, I take my run here in Long Beach, get back home to prepare lunch for my son and myself, and head to work. Once at work, I listen to voicemails, read emails, and go through a list of things to do that I preset on my Outlook (Outlook reminders from following up on proposals, contracts, solicitation, appointments both off property and on property, or even out of town appointments, food tastings, networking, etc. the list could go on and on). I stay focused on what I have scheduled for the day. Sometimes, not everything goes to plan. That’s when I adopt to whatever is at hand.

What do you enjoy most about MPI? 
I’ve attended MPI events before, when I was with a different hotel. It’s been a while because we take turns. But what I enjoy about MPI is the education and networking possibilities. From these events and meetings I can meet clients that will become friends and the whole business relationship is built from this foundation. Although, now with COVID-19, it is taking us to a different level of meeting people. But I’m sure we will adopt.

What is the best career advice you’ve received
Best career advice that I received is do what you love to do, because if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.

What’s your favorite tip for someone in our industry?
Adapt to change and find ways to grow every day.

What do you love most about your MPI Chapter? 
The ability to communicate with fellow event and meeting planners. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I cannot wait to attend my first MPI San Diego event once this is safely over!

How long have you been a member of MPI?
This is my first Year!

How long have you worked in the industry?
Seven years

What is a typical day like for you?
Walking around the museum and the park with patrons to help them visualize and execute an excellent event!

What do you enjoy most about MPI?
Its amazing connections and education!

What is the best career advice you’ve received?
Know your worth; it is crucial to see the bigger picture of your impact. 

What’s your favorite tip for someone in our industry?
Be Kind! We can face stressful moments at times, but every collaboration can have a great impact if you have a positive mindset. 

What do you love most about your MPI Chapter?
There is more collaboration over competition! It is fantastic and refreshing to meet the members and their distinctiveness.

 

How did Krissy hear about MPI? 
Krissy heard about MPI and the CMP originally from her days as a San Diego State student pursuing a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management. During her recent work as a Conference Services Manager, she connected with Peggy Jewel who hosted a corporate meeting at Krissy’s hotel property. They clicked immediately and Peggy invited her to be her guest of honor for a San Diego MPI Holiday Party 2018 event.

Why did Krissy join, and what does she want to get out of membership?
 Krissy joined MPI because of the great experiences she had as a guest of Peggy’s at chapter event. She is hoping to gain new relationships and keep learning about the industry as an MPI member. Krissy is pursuing her CMP this winter and hopes the MPI membership and industry engagement will help prepare her for the exam.

What is Krissy’s role with the Lakehouse?
Krissy is the Conference Services Manager at The Lakehouse Hotel & Resort, a boutique property in San Marcos. She is responsible for managing all arrival and event details for corporate group business. Some of these responsibilities include: hotel room reservations, meal menus, meeting room space, audio/visual requirements, overall event coordination, banquet staff, set-up and tear-down. She specializes in creating unique and memorable experiences for her guests!

What are some fun facts about the venue?
The Lakehouse is a 144 room boutique resort located on a lake and full-service marina in San Marcos. The property boasts their featured “wow-factor” restaurant, Decoy, fourteen venue spaces, two golf courses, and all the water toys imaginable.

What is a fun fact about Krissy? 
Krissy is a world-traveler and has visited over 22 countries. As an undergrad student, she studied abroad in Thailand and even had an internship at the Hyatt in Bangkok. Her experience in Thailand and all the travel adventures that followed cemented her passion to build a career in hospitality.