Meg Walker has spent the last 15 years building a South Bay catering empire, known collectively as MBM Hospitality. What started as the initial brand, Made by Meg Catering, has grown to include three more brands, including a bar catering service called Tipsy Pear; special events venue La Venta Inn in Palos Verdes Estates; and Walker’s, a catering delivery service.

But Walker did not start out in the food industry at all. In fact, she began her career as a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney. When she hired a business coach to help her hone her skills as a financial adviser, she discovered that she wanted to pivot completely.

“What we ended up realizing is that what I wanted to do was cook and have people over, which felt just like play time,” Walker says.

Her love for cooking began when she was young. She recalls cooking holiday dinners for her whole family of 20 or more people as only a teenager. But she was concerned about how she would make a living in the food industry. Still, she made the leap and attended Le Cordon Bleu before moving on to work in a Michelin Star restaurant. After experiencing the world of fine dining, she considered being a food writer, but she did not see a pathway to making a living in that role.

At that point, she decided to become an entrepreneur. Catering was the natural fit for Walker’s personality, who remembers being able to stay calm through all the holiday festivities when she was young while also delivering a good meal for her family.

“I realized that there's something about this place you can hold for people where you're the calm in the storm,” Walker says. “You're not running around, freaking out and burning things and yelling at people or throwing the turkey in the middle of the street, which I've heard people do before on Thanksgiving. So you can create a complex for people to gather at your table, which is why I chose catering because I feel like those moments are so important to be calm, ready, prepared, and organized. So you can actually enjoy the moment.”

Catering was also the perfect option for Walker because she wanted to find a good work-life balance in the food industry, which is rare to come by. She wanted to have a family, and she now has two daughters. She views her healthy home life as one of her largest accomplishments.

“Catering is kind of funny. I always say it’s like having grandkids versus having your own kids because catering is like you can play with the kids and then send them home,” Walker says. “Whereas if you have a restaurant, that’s your kids full time. So you're in the restaurant from the crack of dawn until the end of the night or the early morning. So it's nice that catering is an organized activity.”

Walker has a successful business now, but she had a lot of challenges, which she refers to as “speed bumps,” along the way, especially when it came to learning how to run a business.

“I don't really believe in obstacles, and I decide that everything's a speed bump,” Walker says. “Some are bigger, and some are smaller. When I started the business, I thought what I'd be doing is cooking. But you're doing so much more than that. Even just to get next to your cutting board or the sauté pan, you have 100 things to navigate, which could be everything from rules and regulations and the health department all the way down to making sure all your bills are paid on time.”

Since her business’s launch, it has grown to more than 250 employees. She has experienced many highlights over the years, including catering at the 2022 Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium and being named one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. She also believes in giving back to the community, so MBM Hospitality also participates in an aging meals program that provides meals to senior citizens in Los Angeles.

“My priority is to be a contributor,” Walker says. “And I feel like that is an extremely important part of what I do. And to be a good neighbor. I think businesses can either make trouble for a community or they can add something to it. So that is always my intention.”

More information: https://mbmcatering.com/about/

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