Communion Catering, the Modern Day Lemonade Stand

NASSAU BAY, TX, February 05, 2011

Making a living as an Executive Chef in various restaurants, healthcare, and government facilities over the last two decades was a very overwhelming and challenging experience for me. Not having time for family life and not taking care of other priorities was damaging and at times devastating in terms of living a full life. However, I always had a great position, with a great title, great salary, and excellent benefits. I had what many young professionals would consider a âEURœdream lifeâEUR. Years of working hard and remaining faithful to my employers meant nothing, as the economy started to turn, and things started to change. After months of dreadful rumors and many sleepless nights, I was finally laid off from what I considered to be the greatest job I ever had.

My first reaction was to remain calm. My wife and I had enough money in our bank accounts to keep up with the bills for a few months, and I believed that my career choice would always keep me gainfully employed. I updated my resume right away and began submitting it wherever I could. I was forward focused, trying to find a position that was equal to or more than what I had before. As a safeguard I filed for unemployment and within a couple of weeks I felt better knowing I was somewhat buffered by the federal government. Eventually weeks turned into months and I still had no âEURœgainfulâEUR employment. I was doing odd jobs that I would find on Craigslist and I would volunteer at our church whenever I could. But, it was volunteer work, meaning not for money. Sometimes I acquired business and leads from my church, and sometimes the pastors would treat me with a gift card to a local restaurant.

Among millions of unlucky Americans I came to a point where I ran out of leads and the economy was so bad that I wasnâEUR t attaining enough lucrative leads to turn any profit. To make matters worse, my unemployment checks were slowly coming to an end. In the beginning, there were all kinds of options and different paths for me to take, but after awhile I just simply ran out. I had completely saturated my market and the well was dry.

I really started to become frantic and depressed after awhile. Things were starting to look very bleak, and I was having more and more conversations with God. Suddenly, one late night it came to me. I was scrolling through television channels and discovered a little known documentary called âEURœLemonadeâEUR. ItâEUR s a documentary about people just like me who had also become displaced from their jobs. The thing that made them unique was that they were taking their talents and their dreams, and turning them into reality. It felt like God hit me with a sudden burst of energy that I hadnâEUR t felt in months.

Immediately I began putting my talents to work. I made a checklist of things that I was good at and things that I love to do. I began implementing these talents into everything I would do. I tried to figure out what I would love to do if I didnâEUR t need the money. After much soul searching, I decided to use my skills as a chef to start a home based catering business. It seemed to be low risk, with little investment, and I had a vast supply of inventory all around me. Most importantly, I loved to work at home in my kitchen. All I needed was customers.

I used another talent of mine to build a website for marketing and taking orders. You can check it out at http://www.communioncatering.webs.com . Once the website was built, I put the word out to all of my family and friends, and began my online marketing efforts. After a few weeks I started to see the fruits of my labor. I was a little disappointed at the amount of traffic I was receiving in the beginning, but it worked out for the better, because I wouldâEUR ve been overwhelmed by all of the details that needed adjusting.

After several months of being in business, I would consider myself to be successful, and my business is still growing. My wife and I have a second, steady stream of income. We live modestly for now because we are saving money, but we can afford to do many things with our kids. The best part is that we have the âEURœtimeâEUR to do things with our kids. The stresses from a âEURœnormalâEUR career are gone. My success is completely dependent on my own efforts as the business owner. I can make as much or as little money as I want to make, and I can take time off whenever I want. In the next year we are projecting business growth to go from the Clear Lake Texas area to the entire city of Houston, and shortly after we will buy storefront kiosks for the expansion of a business idea that IâEUR ve had for years.

What I came to realize through all of this is that I am not alone. There are many talented people out there right now that are in the same boat I was in through 2009. What I am trying to get across to these people is this. When I came to the realization that I had nothing to lose and everything to gain with the gifts God gave me, I turned lemons into lemonade, and created a modern day Lemonade stand. While you have the time, find out what you love to do, and just go do it. DonâEUR t forget to pray.

Credits and Kudos:

Thanks to the makers of the movie "Lemonade". If you are unemployed and/or have been affected by unemployment, please take the time to see this film. http://www.lemonademovie.com

Thanks to Communion Catering for being a blessing from God. http://www.communioncatering.webs.com

Glory be to God.